


Us against the world

by Teki



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Asexual Shiro, Character Death, Characters introduced gradually, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Friends to Lovers, Gen, M/M, Major Character Injury, Major character death - Freeform, Many of them, Minor Character Death, Original Character Death(s), POV Third Person, Search for cure, Serious Injuries, Strangers to Lovers, Survival, Tags will be added as shit goes down, Zombie Apocalypse, alternative universe - apocalypse, as if we dont have enough of those, klance will happen late yall, like hecka slowburn the main ship characters dont appear for the first chapters slowburn, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-11-29 02:51:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11431632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teki/pseuds/Teki
Summary: After Shiro agreed to let them try one of the vaccines on him, things did not end up as planned. Far from it, really. Now he and his best friend, Matt, has to travel across the country in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, with the hope that they might be bringing with them the solution to every living humans problems. But this apocalypse is damn set on not making it easy for them to reach their goal.However, with a certain someone directing their way through a radio, and meeting people along the way willing to help them out, this mission does not seem impossible at all.Shiro, at least, has hope.





	1. Unstoppable

**Author's Note:**

> Hooboy, this started out as a klance - concept n then it grew into sth way bigger than that. A lot of this is inspired from the 1st season of Znation (if you havent seen it i recommend you do, just cuz its good, not cuz its necessary to understand this fic).
> 
> Anyway, english is not my native language so pls dont be afraid to point out any mistakes, thanks!

_“This is a worldwide alert._

_Standby for important information._

_Quarantine._

_The president is dead._

_This is an extinction scale event._

_Do not panic._

_Three years after the first infection, national governments have fallen._

_There is no cure.”_

“Hah, what a load of shit.

Let me tell you something, this was the last message we got before things went to shit. Our government – err, what was left of it - was gone within the hour after this message had been broadcasted. Heh, good riddance, I say.

I’ll let you in on a secret. There are still people out there – despite this downer of a last message – who believe in a cure. Who are risking their lives day and night to save those few of us left. I believe they’ll be able to do it.

Meanwhile, I’ll be here. I hope someone, anyone, out there can take comfort in my voice. If you can get a signal – broadband, low band, vhf, uhf, anything, anywhere - then you can hear me, thanks to our old friends at the NSA. I’ll be here, every day, hoping you can . Hoping you’re okay. Keep fighting with every inch of your being, that’s how we’ll win this war.

For now, I’ll let you off with a taste of our old world. We all have things we miss, be it friends, family or food – God I miss pizza..

This is the Green Paladin, signing off. You’ll hear from me tomorrow.”

 

Pidge turned off her mic and took a second to breathe deeply as she clicked on a music file on her computer. She nodded her head a bit to the first few beats, waiting for the vocal to kick in. She sighed and leaned back in her chair as she listened to the songstress. This song was closer to her heart than others, reminding her of summer days spent in the car with her brother, driving wherever their hearts led them. Matt had always had a weakness for Sia – Pidge had teased him a little for it of course, but even she couldn’t deny that Sia was talented.

Matt had liked this song especially, she remembered him telling her how it helped him get motivated for studying. It all felt so long ago, before Matt got drafted, before Pidge got blackmailed into joining the NSA (not her fault their system was hackable or that she as a 15 year old was obsessed with proving the existence of cryptids). Before the apocalypse.

She wondered if Matt was listening. He often did, when he had the time. It gave her some peace of mind, knowing that her voice was heard by someone out there. It helped her not think of how alone she was, it gave her something to do when nighttime set in, along with darker thoughts.

The song hit its chorus, and Pidge thought it was rather fitting for the speech she had just given. Even if somewhat cheesy in context. She didn’t care too much though, if she was lucky, someone would hear the song and be motivated like Matt had been. To do what had to be done. Even if it meant something completely different now than back then.

She closed her eyes as the song went on, allowing herself to think back on her family. She was happy she had some sort of contact with Matt, it was more than most in this godforsaken world. Neither of them knew how their parents fared, and Pidge feared the worst. She had tried her best to come to terms with that realistically the worst had happened. Yet, with no confirmation of their demise, a small hope remained.

The song ended, and Pidge let herself sit in silence for a few moments before moving to end the broadcast. Her mind was still all over the place, and so she sat there, quietly reflecting over her own thoughts as she waited. She wasn’t sure what she waited for, but most of her days were spent on waiting. Waiting for.. anything that could make hope grow, even a little.

Time blurred, and suddenly the coms sparkled with life.

“This is.. What’s left of the Voltron team, contacting K – I mean the Green Paladin.”

Pidge shot up at the familiar voice. Matt. He was calling her by her code-name, which meant something had happened. She quickly reached for her mic.

“Green Paladin answering. Status report.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! The song Pidge plays - which coincidentally is the inspo song for this chap, is Unstoppable by Sia! 
> 
> Im sorry if this seems a bit short, the next one is longer I promise :** 
> 
> Scream at me at my tumblr: http://sushisocks.tumblr.com/
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you're liking this!!


	2. No one's here to sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro get fuckd

«They’re breaking the barricade!»

«Shit, Allura, you need to do it now!»

“But Shiro, you might—“

“I know. It is a risk I am willing to take. It must be done.”

Shiro watched the silver haired woman give a short nod, he watched as she turned her back to him to prepare the needle. He closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath to calm himself. He turned his head towards the locked door, where his friend and comrade Matt stood, with a cocked gun ready in hand. Shiro could see him hold his breath, listening for the familiar heavy steps and groaning outside the door.

“Matt.”

The shorter man turned his head, meeting Shiro’s eyes.

“If things go awry.. I need you to get Allura up to the chopper. Alfor is waiting. If I- If this doesn’t work.. Make sure they get out of here. That’s first priority. But –“

A pause to steady himself, to make sure his voice doesn’t crack.

“But if you can.. Please don’t leave me like one of them. Please, let me have peace.”

Matt opened his mouth, as if to protest, but caught himself. Instead, he nodded. Shiro silently thanked him for not making this harder than what it was. Matt had always been like that, since back when they were only recruits. He had always understood Shiro, and Shiro liked to think he understood Matt just as well. He was thankful for having Matt by his side through their early days, he was thankful for having lucked out enough to be posted at the same place as Matt, and he was thankful for Matt being there when Shiro was most certainly walking into his own zombie-fied after-life. Even if it was only to make sure he wouldn’t stay there long enough to kill someone.

The room was eerily quiet as Allura turned back to Shiro, needle filled with a clear green liquid. Shiro swallowed harshly, trying to still his pounding heart as he met Alluras gaze. She looked just as nervous as he felt. Shiro tugged lightly at the restraints around his wrists, to give him some sense of security – to make sure he wouldn’t attack his two closest friends once he was gone. Then he gave Allura a bittersweet smile.

“I’m ready.”

He watched her hesitate, he watch her slowly move closer and position the needle on his arm. Her hands shook slightly, he could see it now that she was this close. He watched the needle break through the skin to get to his vein - clenching his fist slightly at the initial pain. She pushed the green liquid out of the needle, and as it disappeared into his body Shiro let his head fall back onto the table he was laid upon. He waited, for anything. The test subjects he had seen go through this before him had all had horrible reactions and he refused to believe he somehow lucked out in this regard.

He counted the seconds.

Thousand and one.

Thousand and two.

Thousand and three.

Thousand and four.

Thousand and fi—

The pain was instantaneous, his muscles tensing as he involuntarily fought against his restraints. The insides of his skin itched, prickled, stung as if it had been sewn onto his body and now being ripped off again. He dug his nails into the palms of his hands to keep himself from trying to scratch said skin off, as if such a thing would help. It all worsened by the second, his skin slowly setting itself on fire, the seething white pain overtaking any coherent thought of his mind. He could feel himself shaking, heaving for air so he would not drown in the burning sensation filling his veins. He barely registered that he was screaming until he felt his throat sting, raspy and dry. He barely heard his friends worried voices in the distance. He barely heard the loud bang that came with the barricade breaking, the loud agonized moaning of the dead coming closer.

Then, just as sudden as the fire took over, it disappeared. Only to give way to the feeling of ice filling his veins, running through his body and filling him with dread – this was it, he was definitely dying. The icy spikes hit every nerve in his body, and if his throat hurt before it was now raw from his screaming. He found himself missing the fire from moments before, feeling as if his heart was slowly pulled out through his chest by an invisible hand, as if someone had stuck a spoon into a brain and was slowly twisting it around. He clawed at the table, at the restraints, at his own palms, anything his fingertips could reach. His vision blurred.

It was just then, when he felt as if his body was about to explode, he felt the pain fade. It disappeared like a strand of hair taken by a gust of wind. He was still there, his body sticky with sweat and shaking uncontrollably, his eyes fixated at the roof above him as he tried to understand. With a deep breath, he lifted his head to look around, only to realize he was alone. The door across the room was open; Shiro could see the staircase that led up to the roof from where he laid bound. The door closer to him – where the now-gone Matt had stood – was shaking and slowly becoming unhinged. Shiro could hear the familiar groaning from the other side.

He let his head fall back with a sigh, closing his eyes as he tried his best to think. He was alive – he could hear his heartbeat, he could see his chest heave and he could feel exhaustion come creeping up. He was alive – something in that injection must have been right. In just his survival, Allura had made a step forward. The corners of Shiro’s mouth tugged up into a tired smile. They did it. He was alive, despite it all.

A loud bang against the door quickly pulled Shiro back from his moment of relief. His joy quickly being replaced by dread, he looked down on the leather strips which bound him to the table, realizing what was about to happen. He struggled against them for a moment, before giving up, sighing deeply. He had never thought he’d survive the apocalypse, but what a way to go. Making an advance for the cure – the one thing that gave so many people hope – only to be killed by zombies before anyone would know. There was a certain, sad irony to it.

Shiro stared up at the floor above him, thinking of his friends. If they weren’t already in air, they were probably just a few meters from him, up there. Matt, who had been by his side for years now, and Allura, who had comforted him and been comforted by him as they ran the various experiments. He thought of his family, people he hadn’t spoken to in years; his mother, father and step-brother. A pang of guilt hit him as he wondered how they were, if they even were alive. He didn’t regret joining the military, but he regretted how he had been unable to contact them more before the virus outbreak and the fall of the known government. He regretted not being able to tell them one last time that he loved them.

He closed his eyes and did his best to accept what was soon to come, trying to block out the sound of the door a few meters away being knocked to the ground. He tried his best to tune out the smell of rotting meat, or the loud groaning as the door gave way to the zombies who rushed into the room. He tried to ignore the heavy footsteps as undead bodies shuffled their way inside and hurried towards his bound body.

What he couldn’t ignore however, was the sudden pain jolting through his body as a jaw clamped down over his bicep and teeth – human teeth – sank into his flesh. His vision went white as his nerves screamed at him and adrenaline rushed through his veins, pushing his exhaustion out of his mind. He struggled against the binds as he trashed blindly to get away – to no avail. He felt a second set of teeth baring into his forearm and he screamed himself hoarse with shock – and anger.

He was angry. As more zombies rushed towards him, Shiro realized this fact. He was angry at the world for going to shit. He was angry at the scientists who caused the virus. He was angry at himself for being unable to do more. He was angry at his fate, he was angry at this being his fate.

He felt more jaws lock into his flesh as he felt his anger and hope leave him. This was the end. He didn’t dare look at the decaying bodies standing over him, digging their way into his flesh. A certain numbness came over him, and suddenly the pain didn’t seem as bad. He took deep breaths, staring at a spot in the ceiling, his mind running at a hundred miles per hour, unable to keep a single thought long enough to register. All the feelings which had swirled around inside him just a few seconds ago were now gone, Shiro feeling nothing but completely empty – almost peaceful.

Then suddenly a loud noise shot through the air, deafening the zombies groans for a moment as Shiro’s ear rung at the familiarity of it. A gunshot. He felt one of the bodies which had been tearing into his forearm let go of his flesh. He heard the sound of a body falling to the floor. He barely registered the sounds of struggle that came quickly after, of more bodies hitting the floor. He barely felt the zombies who had buried their teeth deep inside him slowly let go, something else catching their attention. A few more gunshots went off.

Soon enough there were no more zombies biting into him, presumably no more in the room. However, he was keenly aware of someone else being in the room, too weak to lift his head or even open his eyes to look. A moment later, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and a faint voice. Shiro tried his best to get himself together and concentrated on the voice. He realized it belonged to someone familiar.

“Shit, Shiro, can you hear me? Hey, Shiro, Shiro come on, oh God, please.. Don’t die on me here Shiro, c’mon.”

Shiro let out a small groan as he slowly opened his eyes, the world around him seemingly greyer than before. He turned his gaze to the source of the voice in the room.

“… Matt..”

“Oooh thank God, Shiro, you’re okay, it’s gonna be okay, we just gotta – shit – we just gotta get going, yeah?”

Shiro looked up at his friend groggily, as Matt pulled out a bandaging roll from one of the pouches in the belt. He watched as Matt tried his best to patch his friend up, with shaky hands and teary eyes. The bandage-roll ran out as he finished up with Shiro’s arm.

“Fuck, f-fuck I don’t have more.. Shit, Shiro we gotta go now. You’ll have to stand up and move, we’ll fix the rest of you when we’re safe, just.. c’mon.”

Matt was one of those types who would surprise you with his strength. He was short and lanky, but he could haul a tall, muscular and basically unconscious man like Shiro around as if it was no problem. Shiro had experienced it more times than he’d like to admit, after especially hard trainings or celebrations taken a bit too far. This time, it hurt. The shorter man helped his friend out of his restraints and down from the table, while the taller tried his best to keep his groaning to the minimal. However, once Shiro tried to lean weight onto his right leg, he toppled over. Matt was quick to his side, catching him so he wouldn’t fall, and supporting him so he wouldn’t stumble again.

Shiro took a moment to recollect himself, and look down at his own body. Sticky from blood and sweat, with his clothes torn and red from the bite wounds littered along his right side. Seven, Shiro counted. Seven bites. Two on his arm, three on his leg and two on his torso, all on the right, on the side which the zombies had come from. Seven marks to show he should’ve already been long dead.

“C’mon friend, let’s get going.”

Matt shook him out of his thoughts with a soothing voice. Shiro looked at him, where he stood by his right, careful to not touch anywhere close to the bite marks while keeping him upright. Shiro gave him a small nod, thankful for his friend being there. Matt smiled softly at him before he got a determined look in his eyes, and trudged on.

Shiro had enough to focus on by putting one foot in front of the other and not going unconscious again, so the hallways whirred by as an afterthought and he didn’t realize they were headed to the underground parking lot before they were there. Matt had at some point snagged a pair of car keys, and soon enough they found themselves driving away from the facility, Shiro only able to watch through the car window as the main wave closed in.

He heard Matt let out a sigh once they were out of the danger zone, and he could feel the adrenaline which had kept him awake this long slowly ebbing out as exhaustion set in. However, he had too many questions. He turned to his friend, whose eyes were focused on the empty road ahead of them.

“.. Allura—“

“She left in the chopper before I saved you. I did as you told me to Shiro, she’s safe.”

Shiro let out air he hadn’t known he’d been holding. If Allura was safe, then so was humanity’s last hope. He let himself rest against the back of his seat as he heard Matt shuffle. A moment later he heard the familiar crackle of a two way radio being turned on, and Matt’s voice speaking.

“This is.. What’s left of the Voltron team, contacting K – I mean the Green Paladin.”

“Green Paladin answering. Status report.”

“Project Castle on somewhat rocky shores. We got the project head and daughter onto the chopper and they should be on their way. There is only me and Shiro left of the team, escaped by car. There is a slight.. Problem, though.”

A pause. Matt waited for the other end to answer before going on.

 “What do you mean, problem, Matt?”

“Look Katie, don’t freak or anything, this is gonna sound unbelievable but it’s true okay so just.. hear me out.”

Matt gave Shiro a look, as if asking for permission, and what could Shiro do but give it? With a nod from his friend, Matt turned his eyes back on the road as he spoke into the radio. Shiro chose to tune him out now, knowing too well what he was going to say. The cure, the bites, Shiro’s survival. If anyone needed to hear this, it was the Green Paladin. She was the only means of communication between the people still alive and involved in finding a cure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoop!!
> 
> Scream at me at my tumblr: http://sushisocks.tumblr.com/
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you're liking this!!


	3. A certain kind of uncertainess

It had just been a few hours since their mission changed. Again. When Matt first came to the facility, he had felt as a somewhat glorified bodyguard as their main objective had been ensuring the safety of the scientists performing experiments. It had become a bit harder once the virus broke out and there was an actual danger from the outside. Then, they were to ensure all the scientists left the facility safely as they were moved to another base for further research.

Now, his objective had very little to do with the scientists – if anything at all. His best friend and comrade, Shiro, had been bitten. Seven times, to be exact. Yet he had survived. The only feasible explanation being the vaccine he had been given just moments before. So, Matt had been tasked with making sure Shiro ended up the only place they could get any answers. At Mount Wilson CDC. Where they had sent Allura and the other scientists.

Matt found it somehow ironic that he had been tasked with protecting Shiro. Shiro had always been the stronger of the two, and way more self-sacrificing. Matt? Not so much. He had been drafted into the military against his will, and he had only looked forward to going home from his first day there. Shiro had alleviated that somewhat, when they became partners. He liked talking, and Matt liked having someone to talk to.

His eyes wandered off the road as he peeked over at his companion, sitting in the seat next to him. He was distracted, picking at the bandage around his arm with a bored expression. Matt couldn’t blame him, there wasn’t much to do as the injured passenger in a car driving through America. He absentmindedly wondered if he’d tied the bandages too strictly – he had rushed to get out of there, yes, but it’d be bad if the bandages were too restrictive. He sighed as he fixed his eyes on the road again, steering with one hand to let the other go up to the dog tags around his neck and fiddle nervously with them.

Katie had called them up again just a few hours after escaping the facility, asking Matt to take a detour so they could pick a person. A doctor, Coran Smythe. She had gotten in contact with the man shortly after deciding their next move, and apparently he would be beneficial in the search for a cure. Matt had agreed.

He eyed the fuel indicator, wondering if they should already be on the lookout for more gas. His brain had been so occupied with thinking about the mission – and everything that could go wrong - that along with him almost subconsciously steering the car, he barely noticed Shiro reaching towards him and grabbing his hand before it had happened. Matt slowly let go of his tags and met his friends gaze as Shiro smiled softly at him, his unbitten hand holding Matt's.

“You’re doing it again Matt. It’s gonna be ok – _we_ are going to be ok.”

Matt took a deep breath and nodded, eyeing the road yet again. He had a bad habit of fidgeting whenever he was nervous or overthinking. His dog tags had become his go-to in regards to this. Shiro had seen him do it enough times to know, and he knew how to bring him out of his own head.

So Shiro spoke. It was one of their usual topics when Matt almost fell into himself, what they wanted to do once their service was over. As if they’d ever live to see the day. Somewhere deep in him, Matt knew that Shiro should’ve rather been resting after everything he had been through. Yet he couldn’t say anything, his focus going to Shiro’s voice instead of all the bad possible situations. It was calming, it helped him focus.

Shiro didn’t let go of his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scream at me at my tumblr: http://sushisocks.tumblr.com/
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you're liking this!!


	4. Lowlife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of stuff happens, new characters are introduced, shatt domestic stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hrk this is my biggest chapter yet, and tho we're 4 chapters in i wanna do some thanks n shit idk  
> Thanks to reesie for betaing this chap, like dang girl, u def saved my ass and made this 100 times easier to read n understand thx  
> S/O to the kl kl server n everyone there who liked the shit i shared after sprints (special s/o to matt for givin me so much positive reinforcement i thrive off that shit)  
> and also a v big hug to kookie who reads this fic despite not having watched voltron yet, you the real mvp, ily

The large map in Shiro’s hand rustled slightly as he shifted. He knew it was distracting Matt from his driving. But if they were to find this ‘Coran’ and his base of operations, they needed to know where they were.

“Hmm, we should be close..”

Matt gave him a look from the wheel.

“Shiro, you’re my best friend and I love you, but you’re also one of the worst map-readers I’ve ever met and I don’t trust you with one.”

A moment of silence passed as Shiro digested what Matt had just said. He couldn’t really deny it, Shiro had always preferred constellations over maps – Matt had been the map guy between the two. The reason he was the map guy this time around was made astoundingly clear by the throbbing side of his.

“Okay, I won’t argue with you. Still, we passed the Georgia-state sign like an hour ago, we should be  close to the place Pidge spoke of.”

Shiro spoke as he studied the map, paying somewhat attention to the environment around their car and trying his best to keep track of where they were. He heard Matt hum slightly as he scanned the marked roads, his eyebrows shooting up a bit when he noticed a road he hadn’t seen before.

“Ah, shit,” Shiro let out. He could feel Matt’s eyes on him, not daring to meet his eyes quite yet – feeling heat spread up his neck.

“I think we were supposed to take that turn to the left..”

“…. The one we passed like five minutes ago?”

Shiro nodded as he looked over at his friend, only to be met with an unimpressed expression. He shrugged and smiled apologetically, knowing too well what Matt was thinking. The shorter man sighed and turned the wheel, a bit more sudden than Shiro had expected – so in an attempt to not lose his balance, he hurriedly grabbed onto his seat. Pain shot through his side as he put weight where he shouldn’t have, making Shiro yelp with pain. This in turn made Matt swallow a small chuckle that had almost escaped him, as he eyed his friend warily.

“Shi-Shit, fuck, sorry, I forgot, are you ok? Do you need to change the bandages?”

Shiro let out a groan as he collected himself, fighting the pull of gravity as the car slowed down – Matt trying to reach out to help him while also keeping in control of the road ahead of them. Shiro gently swatted his hand away.

“No, I’m fine, it’s fine, we have to save those for when they’re needed.”

Matt didn’t give him an answer. Shiro knew he was looking at him, but he refused to meet his gaze. In the corner of his eye, he saw the other’s hand move back to the steering wheel and he felt the car’s speed pick back up.

Silence filled the car as they now were reminded of their situation. Matt with his eyes on the road, and Shiro staring out the window with the map now somewhat folded in his lap. Little could be heard except their breathing and the car under them. The passing world seemed gray; nothing stuck out except for the red color that they saw more times than Shiro cared for.

Neither Shiro nor Matt had seen much of the world after it changed. They had stayed within the facility’s borders from before the virus broke out. Shiro would easily admit that he hadn’t seen the worst of it – even if he had gone through a fair deal of things. Worry suddenly spiked in Shiro – what if things were worse outside than they’d ever imagined? What would happen if they were more unprepared than what they were back when the first people turned?

He furrowed his brows as he became lost in his own thoughts – he was so caught up in his own head that he barely noticed the few undead figures they passed. He didn’t register them until his line of sight moved a little, and he met the gaze of what once had been a little girl, standing in the trench on his side.

A little girl, no older than seven, with pigtails and a summer dress so dirty the once-pink color was barely discernable. Her hair went down to her shoulders, clotted with mud and blood and her hair was so gray she barely stood out from the dark clouds above. Shiro could see rotting flesh following up her jawline, and as the car passed her, she bared her teeth. Her mouth was filthy, Shiro could see red and black clumps of _something_ stuck between her teeth, alongside dark, rotting gums.

He straightened himself up, feeling his jaw fall a bit as he turned his head to watch her for as far as he could – before she was out of eyesight and gone. He leant back into his seat, feeling somewhat astonished. If there was anything to confirm his suspicions of them being unprepared, that was certainly it.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady his heart – which had started beating faster, however he shut his jaw tightly as he realized just how ill he felt. He felt hot and cold at the same time, the image of that little girl swirling in his mind.

_Children._

He had never considered them, in the last three years, he had never even thought of what had happened to the children of their world. He hadn’t spoken to anyone under 23 since before the virus. Except Pidge, of course.

“This it?”

Shiro was pulled out of his thoughts by Matt’s somewhat shaky voice. He opened his eyes to look at his friend, and then at the road in front of them. He saw a junction from the main road approaching, leading into the woods to their right. He scrambled to open his map and find the road they were currently on, gave it a quick lookover, and then nodded to Matt. The shorter man swallowed and turned the wheel once they were close enough, swinging onto the smaller more rocky road.

They spent a few minutes in silence before Matt lightly hit the side of the wheel and swore. Shiro turned to him and quirked a brow.

“We’re almost out of gas.”

“Shit, well, let’s hope that town is close by.”

Matt sighed and Shiro couldn’t help but sigh with him. Things were already looking bad, if they went out of gas before they reached their destination, then things would be even worse. Shiro could barely stand, let alone fight or defend himself. Matt wasn’t exactly equipped to fight multiple zombies alone either.

The rest of the ride was spent in a tense silence, the both of them waiting for the car to start sputtering and die at any moment. Shiro watched the trees pass, his mind whirling from one thing to the other, the most prominent thing being that girl whom he had locked eyes with. Some part of him knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, seeing the black pools of her eyes whenever he blinked.

His mind was going at 100 mph, and it was in this state, completely enthralled by his own thoughts, he realized that the car had stopped at some point. Big, rusty gates were blocking their path, and he heard the car door to his left slam shut. He turned just in time to see Matt stab a zombie in the eye with a knife. Shiro could do nothing but sit and watch as Matt risked his life for him, fighting off and killing three more zombies before the area was clear. Then he came around to open the door for Shiro.

Shiro who felt limp with uselessness, Shiro who sat and stared at Matt for a good amount of seconds before taking the hand his friend had extended to help him out. Shiro hated being unable to help, hated having to watch Matt risk himself like that.

Matt closed the door behind them once Shiro was out, and helped support him as they both turned to the large gates. Atop – and somewhat hidden behind – them, were two human figures, one woman and one man.

It was somewhat hard to discern their features, Shiro couldn’t tell if it was because he was tired, in pain, or just because they were a bit far away. Maybe it was a mix of all three. He could tell that they were both rather big and burly.

He leaned his weight onto Matt – who did well in holding him up and talking to the strangers at the same time.

“Who are you?” Shiro winced a bit at how loud Matt was speaking, although he understood why, the distance being long enough to make one worry about the others ability to hear them.

“We should be asking you guys, I mean, you’re the ones showing up half-dead at our gates,” a male voice rang down. Matt seemed skeptical, but with a noise of approval from Shiro, he answered.

“I’m Matt, and this is Shiro. We’re looking for a man named Coran, he’s supposed to be around this area. The, uh, the Green Paladin sent us?” Matt seemed a bit nervous towards the end, and Shiro took his hand to reassure him. It did sound kind of crazy, but what could they do? This was their only option.

For a brief moment Shiro entertained the thought of this not being the right place. If they had to sit back in that car and move on, they’d most likely die, just from not having gas and Shiro being dead weight.

They both stood nervously as they waited for an answer from beyond the gates. They could hear the voices of the man and woman discussing, but nothing clear enough to discern. Then, suddenly, they became quiet. Shiro cold feel Matt breathing next to him as he leant on his shoulder. The female spoke.

“Are you the two with the cure?”                    

There was a moment of hesitation. Matt and Shiro locked eyes for a moment, giving eachother a nod of approval. Shiro reached down to the end of his shirt and pulled it up, showing the bandages rolled around his torso. He didn’t remember putting them on, but Matt had told Shiro that he’d done it while the other had fallen unconscious after their escape from the facility. Shiro was thankful.

He had started to bleed through already, red spots forming on the white of the bandages. He could feel Matt looking at him with a worried gaze, before turning back to the gates, his eyes at the two people above them.

“He got bitten seven times, yesterday. You can guess why he’s still alive.”

Another moment of waiting for an answer, this wait shorter. Then the female spoke up again.

“You can come in, we will meet you inside.”

With that, the figures disappeared behind the gates as they slowly started to open. Matt helped Shiro along as they moved along, the gates opening just enough for the two to pass through before starting to close again. When Shiro looked back over his shoulder, he saw a few limping, groaning figures appearing on the road behind them. He felt relieved they had managed to convince the people – whom he assumed were the guards – to let them in before the zombies had reached them.

Once inside, they were met with a small suburban town, tall walls hiding them from the outside world. There were multiple armed people watching them from different posts along the walls, the closest two being the ones who Shiro assumed had let them in.

They were both of bigger stature, the man even more so. He had dark hair and skin, his clothes worn. He smiled at them, despite his tired look. Shiro noted the headband tied around his head, probably to keep his rather long hair out of his eyes.

The girl was taller and slimmer, but her muscle were more defined than the man. Her features were soft, her face framed by a voluminous, brownish red bob ending at her chin. Her clothes were just as worn out as the man next to her, their arms linked together. Her grin was bigger than her companion’s, letting go of him to take a few steps closer to Matt and Shiro and bring out her arms to welcome them.

“Welcome! It has been a while since we’ve seen outsiders here, it is a welcome change. My name is Shay, and this is my husband, Hunk.”

She turned to show off the man now standing a bit behind her, who lifted his hand to wave. Shiro nodded to him with a smile.

“Hi, I’m Matt and this is Shiro – as I said. Is Coran here? We’re kind of in a hurry.” Shiro turned to Matt as he spoke, hearing the slight waver in his voice. He was nervous – of course he was nervous, there was no way of knowing if they could actually trust these people.

Shays smile faltered a bit.

“Oh, well, Coran isn’t in town right now. We received an emergency call from one of our allied safe bases a few hours ago, one of their people were going into labor and they needed Coran there. We aren’t quite sure when he will be back, but you’re welcome to stay for as long as you like!”

Shiro could feel Matt hesitate, but he’d rather trust these people than go out to the zombies again. Especially with his condition. So he smiled at Shay as he spoke.

“We would like that very much, thank you.”

Matt gave Shiro a worried look, but said nothing. Shiro squeezed his hand, their fingers still interlocked, which made Matt sigh. He gave him a small nod and a weak smile as Shay clapped her hands together, bring their attention back to her.

“Great! We are thrilled to have you here, follow me.”

The first day they spent there, was spent getting to know the town. The rules, the chain of command, the people. They learned that everyone was allowed to have a melee weapon in their house as long as they didn’t break any of the rules. They met the group of people who made the bigger decisions in town, who most just called ‘the Council’. They learned that both Shay and Hunk were part of it, along with Coran. Shay had explained that everyone part of the Council was in charge of different parts that went into the safety and wellbeing of the people in the town. Coran, being a doctor, was head of the makeshift hospitals they had, the medicine and general healthcare. Hunk had taken on the task of making sure everyone had food every day, bringing in provisions and saving up in case of droughts and shortages. Shay was in charge of communications with other towns and bases like their own. This is how Shiro learned that there were more places like this out there, more survivors.

What stuck out the most to Shiro, however, was the school and kindergarten they had. Children of all ages were running around in the streets, playing and talking and _living_. He had almost teared up at seeing actually live children for the first time in years. It was another beacon of hope to him, another sign of their survival. Matt had squeezed his hand the first time they saw the kids, obviously feeling the same way.

Shiro had been sat down on a bench nearby the kids, Shay pulling Matt away for some reason he hadn’t caught at first. Shiro had been sitting there watching the kids with newfound glee, when a little girl no older than seven, with red hair in pigtails and big blue eyes had come to him. She had sat down on the bench, looking up at him with her big eyes, and introduced herself as Fiona. He had spoken with her for a while, which mostly contained of her babbling on about several subjects; ranging from her friends to what she learned in school to things her dad had taught her. Shiro’s heart stung a bit when she said her mother had died, after he had asked.

He didn’t know how much time he had spent there, speaking to this little girl. At some point she had decided to make a flower crown out of the flowers blooming from the small patch of grass next to the bench. He watched her fingers work as she spoke on about her hobbies, and once she had finished the crown, she reached up and put it atop Shiro’s head with a grin. Shiro could do little but smile back, his heart overflowing with warmth.

Soon enough, Matt and Shay returned to the pair on the bench, rolling a wheelchair between them. Shiro eyed it, and them, before sighing. He decided to not fight them on this, as he had barely been able to stand without support. Matt helped him up from the bench and onto the wheelchair. Fiona watched curiously, and Shiro waved with a smile as he was wheeled away from the bench with the little girl. The little girl grinned as she waved back, yelling about him coming back to see her soon.

He sat silent in the wheelchair as Matt steered them down the road, Shay walking next to them and speaking animatedly. He could hear Matt answer her and ask questions every once in awhile, and so decided that he could take this time to just be quiet. So he did, sit quietly and enjoyed the peaceful ambience. When they arrived at their stop – the hospital – Matt helped him up again.

Shay led them inside and to one of the rooms, as she explained to Shiro how it’d be easier to take care of him there.

“I tried to argue against them, but Shay and Hunk are surprisingly stubborn. They agreed to let me stay with you though,” he heard Matt whisper into his ear as Shay stepped forwards to open one of the doors. Shiro couldn’t help but smile and nod a bit as he was brought in. He groaned and held his side as he was laid down onto the bed, trying to somehow mitigate the pain.

He let his head rest against the soft pillows, feeling as if it had been forever since he’d been in a bed as soft or clean as this. He watched Matt sit down on a chair next to his bed, while Shay fussed around with supplies, mumbling to herself.

“Here you have some water, and some painkillers if you need some. I can get someone to bring you some books if you’d like, just tell me what you want. There’ll be someone down in the reception at all times during the night so if you need anything just contact them, yeah?”

She turned to Matt, who nodded. Shiro could see the glint in his eyes, knowing how excited he got at the prospect of something to read. He remembered Matt telling him how it was his favorite thing to do back home, how he and his sister would race each other on finishing the same book, only to wait in agony for the other to finish so they could discuss it. Books reminded him of home.

“I’m sure we’ll need some books to keep us busy while we’re waiting, thanks,” Matt smiled softly.

Shay nodded.

“Any special wishes?”

“Anything you have is fine.”

With another nod and a smile, Shay left the two of them alone. Matt turned to Shiro, who felt as if he was becoming part of the mattress, tension fully leaving his body for the first time in many days. He smiled at Matt, who gently took the flower crown off Shiro’s head, and placed it on the nightstand next to the bed. He then took Shiro’s hand and smiled softly to him.

“Go to sleep, we’ll change your bandages after,” he said, squeezing Shiro’s hand gently.

“I’m not that sleepy,” Shiro answered, despite feeling the familiar feeling of drowsiness washing over him.

“You’re exhausted, I’m sure you’ll be gone the second you close your eyes. Don’t worry, I’ll be here when you wake up,” Matt smiled softly, slowly lifting Shiro’s hand to press his bruised knuckles against his lips. Shiro’s smile grew at the familiar warmth of the other, a peaceful warmth spreading in his heart.

“Okay,” he croaked out. “Thanks.”

“Anytime, you know that. Now close your eyes and rest.”

Shiro did as told, and drifted off into unconsciousness within seconds.

For the first time in many months, Shiro dreamt. He dreamt of Matt, of his lips against his hand, smiling softly. He dreamt of Shay and Hunk, who had welcomed them both with open arms. He dreamt of the mysterious Coran, who they had yet to meet. He dreamt of the children in town, them running around and playing. He dreamt of Fiona, and her flower crown. He dreamt of her big blue eyes and messy pigtails. Then as he dreamt of her smiling up at him, telling him about how she learned to make flower crowns, she changed. Her blue eyes blackened and her white teeth became dirtier. He thought he could smell rotting flesh, and he saw her skin pale, parts of it flaking off. Her hair became dirty, filled with mud and suddenly, he realized, it wasn’t Fiona standing in front of him anymore. It was the undead girl he had seen in the trench as they drove past. Her mouth black with hunger for human meat. Just as she rushed forwards to bite onto his arm, he woke up.

Shiro sat up in cold sweat, heaving for air. His head was ringing as he stared at the white wall in front of him. Then he felt two hands wrapping around him, and the familiar warmth of Matt pressing against his side. He closed his eyes and tried to stabilize his breathing as he leaned into Matt’s touch, recognizing the shuffle of him sitting properly down on the bed. He could hear his voice whisper soothing nothings into his ear, not quite catching what he was saying yet as his mind was a mess, trying to figure out what was real and not. He felt Matt guide his head to his chest, and the familiar pull of being dragged back down to the pillows, now with Matt resting next to him and playing soothingly with his hair, from where Shiro’s head laid on his chest. A few minutes passed as Shiro calmed down, tension leaving his body. Then he wrapped his healthy arm around Matt and brought him closer, hugging him. He closed his eyes as he exhaled.

“Fuck.. Thank you.”

Matt only hummed as he stroked his head. Shiro pulled back a bit to look up at him, seeing a soft smile from the other.

“You ok?” He sounded worried, despite his calming smile.

Shiro nodded.

“Yeah, just a nightmare.”

Matt’s hand slid down from his hair and to his cheek, Shiro leaning into the comfort of his warmth.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“No, I’m okay, just..” Shiro sighed. “Just worried we’re bringing this shitstorm with us to all these innocent people. This town is a good place, Shay and Hunk are nice, there’s children here for Christ’s sake.”

Before Shiro could ramble on about his worries, Matt took his hand from where it was still around his waist, and brought it up to his lips again, talking softly against his palm.

“It’s gonna be okay Shiro, we’re gonna be okay. You said so yourself. Look, we’ll only stay here for as long as we have to, alright? Once Coran gets here, we’re gone, yeah?”

Shiro nodded weakly, finding this reasonable. Matt let go of his hand to turn slightly, grabbing the glass of water and painkillers on the bedside. From where he was laying, Shiro could see an open book laying on the floor between the chair Matt had been sitting on and the bed they were both currently in. He could also see some neatly stacked books on the ground next to the chair. He realized Matt had been reading while Shiro slept, and bit his lip as he understood what Matt had done when Shiro woke in the state he did.

Matt handed him two painkillers, which Shiro put in his mouth as Matt handed him the glass of water. Shiro took it, realizing just how parched he was, and gulped down all of the water. Once finished, Matt took the glass from him and put it back on the bedside table. He then slowly sat up, mumbling something about changing Shiro’s bandages. Shiro sighed and nodded, sitting up too as Matt jumped off the bed. Shiro pulled his shirt off while Matt walked to a cabinet across the room, finding a few rolls of bandages.

“Hunk came with these and the books while you were sleeping. He also told me that there’d be food ready for you whenever you woke up.”

“That’s very nice of him. I’d like something to eat, yeah,” Shiro answered as he watched Matt come back with the bandages. Matt nodded, putting the bandages next to the glass, then picking up the open book on the floor, putting it with the others.

“Then I’ll have to go talk with the guard at the reception real quick. I’ll be right back.”

Shiro gave him a short nod as Matt smiled and left the room. He sat on the edge of the bed with his shirt in his hands, looking down on his bandages, studying them. The red spots he had noticed earlier hadn’t grown much, which he took as a good sign. He sat there for a short time before he heard the door open, looking up to see Matt enter, with a bowl of water in his hands. He smiled at him.

“Food should be here quickly. Let’s get you patched up meanwhile.”

Shiro smiled as Matt put the bowl on the floor next to the bed and pulled the chair up in front of him. Matt sat down and started to gently roll the old bandages off Shiro’s body. Shiro watched as Matt was completely enthralled in his work, doing his best not to hurt Shiro more than necessary. Shiro groaned a bit as they reached the inner layer, this part being the bloodiest and somewhat sticking to his skin. Once his arm and torso were free of the bandages, Matt picked up the bowl of water. Shiro noticed a cloth floating in the water, which Matt took out and wringed, so it wouldn’t drip too much onto the bed. Then he got to work, softly washing away the stale blood on his torso. Shiro leant back on his healthy arm as he watched Matt’s hand work its way down his torso, the cloth picking up most of the blood. Every once in awhile Matt would dip the cloth back in the bowl and wring the water out again, in an attempt to clean some of the blood out of it. Soon enough his torso was mostly free of stale old blood. Matt sat back and looked at his work with a frown. Shiro quirked a brow at the others expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Matt met his eyes for a moment, before looking back down – at his wounds, Shiro realized.

“Your wounds.. They’re healing faster than expected. You’re not bleeding from them anymore.”

Shiro looked down at himself and realized he was right. The bites had scabbed, and he noticed a slight itch around them. He frowned at this realization; the wounds were big and should’ve taken longer to heal than this. He looked back up at Matt, and they locked eyes. He didn’t need to ask to know the other thought the same as him. This had to be thanks to that injection. Another thing to tell Allura once they met with her again – if they met with her again.

The two said nothing, and Matt moved on to putting clean bandages on Shiro’s torso and arm before starting on the leg. It was a bit worse for wear, but the wounds had also scabbed there. Matt gave Shiro a questioning look, which made Shiro shrug, as his guess was as good as his. The silence continued on as Matt rolled the bandages around his leg, when suddenly a knock on the door interrupted them. They both looked up at the door as it opened, Hunk coming in with a smile and a tray of food in his hands. His eyebrows shot up at the scene in front of him.

“Ah, uh, I can leave and come back, if you need me to?”

“No, it’s okay, we’re just changing the bandages. It’d be bad if my wounds got infected,” Shiro smiled, if a bit apologetically. Hunk nodded, his smile widening. He made his way across the room as Matt finished tying up the bandages. Hunk waited with the tray in his hands as Matt let go of Shiro’s foot and sat back up. Then he gently placed the tray in Shiro’s lap.

“Heard you were hungry, so here you go. All done by yours truly, so you know it’ll be good.”

Shiro couldn’t help but smile at this, looking down at the food in front of him. It certainly looked tasty.

“Thank you Hunk. For this and your hospitality.”

Hunk only grinned as he walked towards the door again.

“No problem, I’m just glad you’re up, you were so out of it I was a bit worried you’d never wake up.” Hunk laughed as he turned in the door opening. “The two of you should get some rest, it’s rather late. We’ll see you both in the morning, hopefully Coran will be back.”

Matt and Shiro nodded back at him, both smiling. Hunk grinned as he left, closing the door after him, and Matt turned to Shiro.

“You heard the man. Eat, and then we’ll sleep.”

Shiro nodded as he picked up the fork on the tray, picking a bit at the food before bringing some of it up to his mouth. Meanwhile Matt moved the chair back to its original place, and picked up the book he had been reading previously. He flipped through the pages as he made himself comfortable in the chair, and started reading. Shiro watched him while he ate, finding his presence calming.

It had started some time after the virus broke out, this development of their relationship. They shared a room, a small space with barely enough space for their two beds along with the little belongings they had. Once they had defended the facility and its people a fair amount of times, once more friends had died, once it became harder and harder to ignore the screaming of unwilling subjects from down the hall. They’d climb into the others bed, for warmth and comfort. The nights Shiro woke up heaving for breath and sticky with sweat, the nights Matt woke up screaming with tears in his eyes.

It was easier that way, to have someone with them, someone who understood. At some point they had stopped sleeping in their own beds completely, making the nightmares more rare. They hadn’t gone much past what was needed to comfort the other. Shiro knew they both were overly affectionate towards the other, but they had yet to go as far as actually kiss, or further. Shiro was okay with this, it wasn’t something he craved, not something he needed to feel satisfied. He was more than content just sleeping next to Matt.

He finished his food, coughing awkwardly into his hand to get Matt’s attention. Matt looked up from his book, and Shiro lifted the tray off his lap.

“Could you help me with this?”

Matt closed his book and nodded, putting the book on the chair as he stood up. He took the tray from Shiro and put it on a table standing against the wall. Shiro scooted back in his bed and watched Matt expectantly. The brunet turned to the bed and met Shiro’s eyes. He seemed to hesitate a bit, before shrugging as he crossed the room and crawled up in bed next to him, kicking his shoes off in the process. They both got comfortable next to each other, Shiro wrapping his arms around Matt’s waist as the shorter one scooted closer, letting his forehead rest against Shiro’s chest as he exhaled contentedly. Shiro smiled as he let one of his hands run through Matt’s hair.

“’Night,” Matt said, his eyes closed and voice already drowsy.

“Sweet dreams,” Shiro answered, earning a small playful huff from the other. He bowed his head to kiss the top of Matt’s head, the corners of his mouth still tugged into a smile as he closed his eyes, letting sleep wash over him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!!!!! this chap took up so much of my life yall dont even know, im glad to have it out.. anyway shiro is asexual in this story ive decided 
> 
> next chap we meet coran! and stuff happens!!! a lot!!! be ready!!!!!!!!
> 
> Scream at me at my tumblr: http://sushisocks.tumblr.com/
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you're liking this!! It rly helps my motivation ;;A;;


	5. Believer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge speaks of her hopes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was at the end of what'll be the next chapter when I realized it'd be *so much better* if I added this first. So here you go, a (very) little thing from pidge. Ill try to put in multiple broadcasts from her bcz i think theyre fun to write.. Coran comes in the next chapter! (out tomorrow or sunday)

«You know how sometimes unexpected things happen? Like, this is a constant in our lives, Z-virus or not. You can’t predict everything, you can’t be 100% sure everything will go your way. Sure, a cup of coffee suddenly tipping over and spilling in your lap as you’re about to leave for a conference meeting is smaller a problem to us than the prospect of your ally, friend, or lover dying as you’re scavenging for food, but the truth is still there. We are not capable of predicting all outcomes nor prepare for them.

Is this a point of despair for many? Yes. We cannot say we won’t die a zombiefied death tomorrow, because we don’t know.

But I think this.. unpredictability should also be a point of hope for us. We don’t know what’ll happen. Things might turn out better than we think. Those strangers you meet on the highway might end up becoming your greatest allies. Someone might actually.. survive a bite. Someone might come up with a vaccine, a cure. We don’t know, and finding out these things is damn well a good enough reason to keep fighting another day.

You guys are my hope. I never know if the next day I live is the day I’ll stop getting answers, stop hearing from people surviving. I also don’t know if the next day is the day I’ll hear of more people, more survivors. If I’ll hear that the cure has been discovered.

You fight, you survive, and you give me hope.

Thank you all for that.

This is the Green Paladin, signing off. You’ll hear from me tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pidge plays songs at the end of her broadcasts.. Im not gonna write her putting on the song and all that jazz each time i write her broadcasts bcz i belive the interesting stuff is what she's saying, no?   
> But no yeah the title of the song is the title of this chapter, same with the others :P 
> 
> Anyway this one is very short but the next one is very long so be ready >:D 
> 
> Tumblr: sushisocks.tumblr.com
> 
> please leave a kudos or a comment if youre liking this fic! it helps a lot on my motivation ;;A;;


	6. Told you so

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Matt finally meet Coran. The three prepare to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact this chap was actually meant to be part of chap 4, like i originally wanted everything that happened in chap 4 and this chap to be in one, but realized that'd be hard to read when i hit 5000 words and hadn't even come halfway to where i originally wanted it to end. so i cut it, n thank lord i did bcz this chap ended up being well over 6000 words.. have fun yall
> 
> s/o to everyone in the kl kl server for dealing with me constantly crying over writing this chapter  
> special s/o to reese who beta'd this chap, rose who heard me drone on in vc about my plans for everything that i want to happen in this fic, and matt for just being a ray of light and motivation  
> also s/o to kookie n kael for reading this fic despite not having watched voltron yet  
> and ser, for being ser

Shiro woke up with the sun warming his back, stretching a bit as he felt Matt next to him, still sleeping. He couldn’t help but smirk a bit at Matt’s peaceful sleeping face, and lazily rubbed his eyes as he heard birds chirp outside. It had been a while since he had slept this good, the soft and spacious bed taking most of the credit. He let himself rest against the pillows, looking out the window from where he lay. For a moment, he let himself believe everything was ok. He let himself believe that there weren’t seven big patches of flesh missing from his body, that there weren’t walls surrounding the town, keeping the atrocious world out. He let himself relax, next Matt’s sleeping body.

He lay there for a while, in a comfortable silence, until he felt the body next to him stir. He watched Matt as he slowly blinked awake, smiling lazily when he met Shiro’s gaze.

“Good morning.” Matt stretched and yawned.

“Morning sleepyhead.” Shiro smiled as he spoke.

“What time is it?”

“Not sure, sun is high in the sky though.”

Matt nodded in response, stretching a bit more before resting against the bed. He looked up at Shiro, as if contemplating something. Shiro quirked a brow as the other sighed and pulled himself up on one arm, turning to meet Shiro’s gaze.

“We should probably get up and let the others know we’re still alive.”

Shiro nodded as he slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his head while Matt scooted off the bed. This was when Shiro realized they had slept in the same clothes they had worn the last few days. He sighed as Matt pulled his shoes on and turned to face him. Matt smiled as Shiro scooted to the end of the bed, his feet hitting the cold floor. Matt helped him put his shoes on, and get out of bed. Shiro felt better, after resting properly for the first time in what felt like a long time. Matt insisted on him taking some painkillers before they left the room though, staying right next to Shiro as they walked with a watchful eye.

They asked the guard at the reception for direction before leaving the building, and slowly made their way up the road. It didn’t take long to get to their destination; a large white tent in center of town, with benches and tables from end to end, currently filled with people talking and laughing while eating. As they got closer, they could see Hunk approach a teenager who was picking at the food in his plate. They heard him speak.

“What’s wrong with your pasta? That’s the best fucking carbonara you’ll ever get, I swear.”

Shiro could see Hunk’s smile, the teenager quickly mirroring him as the conversation flowed freely between them. He heard Matt chuckle next to him.

Hunk turned to them once they got close enough to notice, grin wide on his face as the teen he had just spoken with turned back to his plate and started eating. Matt and Shiro stopped and smiled as Hunk walked closer to them, throwing out his arms and speaking with a loud, joyous voice.

“Ahh, there we have our guests, just in time for lunch. You two slept well?”

Hunk positioned himself in the middle between the two, gently putting one hand on Shiro’s shoulder and one on Matt’s as he brought them with him deeper into the tent. He noticed Matt looking around at all the people around them, almost in awe, as Shiro made polite conversation with Hunk.

“Yes, thank you. Now, about Coran..”

“Oh yeah, Coran came back early this morning. He has some business to finish up before he can meet with you two though. Before that, I think you two should eat.”

With that, Hunk turned them to one of the benches and nudged them to sit down. Matt helped Shiro’s legs over the bench so he faced the table, before sitting down himself. Hunk grinned as he left them there, making his way to the center of the tent, where a big cooking-station had been set up. Multiple people were there, stirring numerous types of food in a variety of pots and pans. Hunk received smiles and greetings from everyone he passed, which made Shiro realize just how well liked he was. He felt Matt nudge him slightly and motion to the far end of the tent. Shiro turned his head to see Shay enter, followed with two girls no older than seventeen, carrying a dead deer between them. They were not the only ones to notice, as the attention of the people in the tent were turned to the newcomers, as if waiting for something.

After a moment of hesitation, the two teens lifted the deer high above their heads with grins on their faces, earning a cheer from the crowd. Shay grinned as she paved a way for the three to the center of the tent, where Hunk stood with two plates of warm food in his hand, and a huge smile plastered on his face.

Shiro watched the two exchange some words once they were close, too far away from him to hear. Hunk laughed as Shay seemed to ask a question, before meeting Shiro’s eyes as he nodded in his direction, speaking. Shay turned and saw Shiro stare, he would have felt a bit embarrassed had it not been for her breaking out in an even bigger grin and waving at him. He waved back and smiled.

Shay turned back to Hunk and Shiro saw him pout a bit, before motioning for her to give him a kiss on the cheek. As she leant in he turned his head and she hit his lips for a moment, before leaning back in shock. Hunk only grinned, and Shiro could see Shay laugh as she playfully hit his shoulder. Shiro couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at their antics, thinking of how obvious their relationship was. Shay then turned to the two teen girls – who currently were trying their best to find a way to store the fallen deer, while Hunk brought the two plates over to where Shiro and Matt were sitting.

“Here you go, pasta made by yours truly,” Hunk beamed as he put the plates in front of them.

“It really looks delicious,” Shiro said. “Do you like to cook, Hunk?”

He could see Hunk’s eyes light up at the question, the same way Matt had lighted up at the mention of books the night prior.

“Oh yeah, absolutely. Cooking, baking, you name it. I owned a café before the virus broke out, fairly successful if I say so myself.” Hunk winked with a satisfied grin. “I’m glad I get to do work with food still, and help out the town while I’m at it.”

Shiro nodded thoughtfully as he picked up the fork in front of him, Matt’s mouth already full of food. Hunk turned his head back to the cooking-station, where the two girls struggling with the deer only seemed to get more and more confused in the lieu of Shay’s directions.

“Oh dear, I’d better get back there, nobody really understands the system we have except my staff and I. I’ll see the two of you later, yeah?” Hunk waved as he left them, hurrying to the center of the tent, not waiting to hear the two answer. Shiro brought some pasta up to his mouth as he watched Hunk gently tap Shay on the shoulder, smiling sweetly as he turned to the two teens, pointing as he told them what to do. They seemed relieved to get some proper directions as they started to make their way out of the tent. Hunk pulled Shay down for a quick kiss on the cheek before following the two girls, Shay waving him away with a laugh. She then turned to look over the crowd.

Just as she met Shiro’s eyes, two tiny hands slammed down on the table he was sitting on, directly across him. He whipped his head around to meet the fiery gaze of a certain little seven-year-old. She was frowning at him, her lips in a pout. Shiro couldn’t hide his surprise as she lifted a finger to point at him.

“Shiro! Where is your flower crown?”

“Fiona! I- uh, I—“ Shiro scrambled to remember, hearing Matt struggle to keep a laugh down. Shiro would probably have done the same had the situations been reversed, had he not been so utterly shocked and momentarily terrified of disappointing this little girl. Realization flashed in his eyes as he remembered Matt putting the crown on his bedside the night before. “—I left it in my room. I’m sorry I forgot.”

Fiona eyed him suspiciously, before huffing in contempt as her pout and frown disappeared. Shiro was amazed at how her feelings changed so easily – her expression always matching.

“Well, that’s okay, ‘cuz I made you a new one, look! It’s better than the other one,” she spoke as she pulled a flower crown up from her lap, which had been hidden by the edge of the table. Shiro couldn’t deny that the quality of the new one seemed better, and it definitely had more flowers than the last he had been given. She grinned as she handed it to him, and watched expectantly as he placed it on his head with a small smile – earning a chuckle from Matt.

This earned Matt the attention of Fiona, who squinted at him. He seemed a bit troubled by the judging stare of the little girl, so Shiro held back his chuckle as he decided to present them to each other.

“Fiona, this is Matt. He’s a dear friend of mine who’s been helping me out a lot,” Shiro said, watching as Matt waved awkwardly at the little girl. Fiona seemed to consider the situation for a moment, Matt specifically, before pulling up another flower crown from her lap. Shiro was almost a bit amazed, it had felt somewhat like a magic trick the first time, even more so the second.

“I made another one to match Shiro, but since you’ve helped him so much you can have it. I’ll just make another one,” she said as she handed the second flower crown over the table for Matt to take. Matt, on his end, seemed a bit shocked at this development, but didn’t need to be asked twice. He thanked the little girl as he took the flower crown from her grasp, slowly putting it on his head. Shiro chuckled and Matt turned to meet his gaze.

“You look good,” Shiro said with a smile. He meant it. Matt smiled softly back at him. Shiro’s hand slinked under the table to grab Matt’s, giving him a small squeeze and receiving one back.

An inquisitive hum from the girl across the table interrupted them. Shiro turned to see Fiona with her head resting in her palm, her elbow on the table. She seemed to study the two for a moment, before opening her mouth to speak.

“Are you two –“ She was interrupted before she could continue her sentence, a familiar voice ringing out nearby.

“Ah, Fiona, I just met your dad, he’s looking for you!”

Shiro turned to see Shay standing there, hands clasped together and with a smile on her face. Fiona let out a dissatisfied noise but promptly scooted off the bench, waved at Shiro and Matt and walked off. Shiro waved back at her with a smile, then he turned his gaze to Shay, who had taken Fiona’s seat.

“Hi, I thought I’d just tell you that Coran might take a little longer than expected, so if you want you can borrow our showers and wash your clothes while you wait. We’ll lend you something clean, I’m sure we can find something that fits you, both of you,” Shay said with a smile as she settled down. Shiro nodded slowly when suddenly Matt spoke up.

“No disrespect ma’am, but we’d rather get going as quickly as possible. There’s a lot at stake and we do not want to waste any time.”

Shay’s smile faltered, her hands resting on the table as she looked down on them, taking in what Matt had said. Shiro thought of his nightmare from the night before, of what Matt had promised him. He realized this was Matt making good in his promise, making sure they wouldn’t stay there longer than necessary. Shiro saw Shay straighten up as she met Matt’s eyes with her fiery ones, now set in determination.

“I understand your concern Matt, but you must also understand that Coran has certain obligations to tend to before he leaves. He is one of the few educated health personnel we have left, and him leaving is a big loss for not only our town, but our allies as well. However,” her voice increased in volume as she spoke, and Shiro could feel Matt shrink under her gaze. Then, she let out a puff of air as she relaxed, her eyes looking at them a bit more fondly. “Coran insisted on going with you. He understands the dangers of your mission, as we all do, and he believes he can help. Who are we to stop him? But before that, he needs to make sure that this town can go on without him. Had the labor not happened when it did, the three of you would have been long gone by now, I’m sure.”

She leaned back a bit as she sighed, and when Shiro glanced over at Matt, he could see the other in deep thought. He smirked as he tightened the grip around the others hand, and saw him pull his eyes up from the table to meet his, only to smile gently back. Knowing he had brought Matt back from the whirlwind which was his mind, Shiro interlaced their fingers as he turned back to Shay who seemed to take a breathing pause after speaking in such a rapid fashion. There was one thing on his mind bothering him, so he decided to ask her.

“Very well Shay. We would love a shower and a change of clothes. It has been a while, as you can imagine,” he smiled at her, a smile that she returned. “But before that, I gotta ask: how do you know about our mission? I understand that the Green Paladin spoke with Coran, and told him about the cure. How.. How did you establish contact with her?”

The question made Shay’s smile widen, she even chuckled a little as she leant over the table to get closer to them, her voice enthusiastic.

“Everyone in town listens to the Green Paladin. We were a bit shocked the first time when we searched for other people over the walkies and we started hearing music on a row of channels. It took a while before we took contact, because we didn’t know if she was the sort to be trusted, but eventually we did. Apparently she keeps track of survivor bases like ours. It has become somewhat of a nightly event to listen to her broadcasts; we all gather here and plug a radio to some speakers. The best part is the music, I think. There is always someone who knows the song playing and sing along. It brings people together, brings hope.” She smiled as she spoke, and Shiro couldn’t help but smile with her. He could see Matt lean closer, grinning, obviously proud of his sister and what she did for these people.

“Anyway, she spoke of people working for a cure and Coran got curious so he contacted her. I’m sure you can guess the rest.” Shiro sat back as he nodded at what Shay said, watching Matt lean his head onto his free hand, the corners of his mouth still turned upwards. Then Shay clapped her hands together with a smile.

“Well, I think it is about time I go tend to my duties. Once you finish eating just go to one of the guards and ask for the way to the showers. I’ll make sure to have everything arranged,” she spoke as she slowly stood from the table, stepping over the bench. She waved as she left, the two men left waving back at her.

Time passed quickly thereafter, despite Shiro eating rather slowly. Matt finished early on, and spent his time distracting Shiro from eating by talking. They discussed the town, the people there, Hunk and Shay, and of course who Coran was. They had only heard about him from others at this point, and so all they could do is draw their own conclusions. They spent their time discussing as Shiro ate, at some point Fiona had passed them, being led by a man not much older than they were. She had waved as she left, the two waving back from their table. Not long after that Shiro had finished his food, and they got up to leave.

The guard explained the way to them when they asked for directions to the showers, and they found their way easily, smiling and joking around as they went. Shiro let himself forget about the mission, about the world outside those walls, as he watched Matt talk with a smile about the book he had been reading. He had the familiar glint in his eyes, and the grin took up half his face. Shiro couldn’t help but smile himself as they approached a bigger building with large doors. Two guards were standing there, leaning against the wall as they talked amicably with a third person – who Shiro recognized as one of the girls that had carried the deer into the tent earlier.

Once she noticed them approaching, she turned to welcome them with a smile, the guards now looking at them and smiling too. Shiro gave them a polite nod as Matt’s voice died down just in time for the younger girl to speak.

“Hello! My name is Florona, nice to meet you! Here, I have a change of clothes to the both of you, along with some towels. I hope you don’t mind but we prepared a bath for you, instead of a shower, considering your.. situation,” the girl smiled as she handed a bag to each of them. As Shiro looked down in it, he saw everything he’d need to wash himself. He smiled graciously to the girl who opened the door and waited for them with a smile.

“Follow me this way, I’ll lead you to the wardrobe you’ll be using. There’s a direct passage from it to your bath. You’ll have an hour before Coran will be expecting you,” she spoke softly as she led the way down a hallway. Shiro realized they were in a recreation center, probably the only one they had in this town. Soon enough the girl in front of them stopped in front of a door, turned to the two, and smiled. “This is it. There is a person at the desk by the entrance if there’s anything you need.”

Shiro nodded and smiled as he stepped into the wardrobe, hearing Matt mumble a ‘thank you’ behind him as he quickly stepped in behind him, closing the door. He heard Matt exhale loudly while he made his way over to the bench to undress. As Shiro pulled off his shirt, Matt came closer, softly kissing the base of the taller man’s neck as he slowly loosened his bandages. Shiro relaxed in the other’s arms as the bandages around his torso fell. He softly tugged at the bandages on his arm while Matt undressed behind his back, pulling out the towel from his bag and wrapping it around his lower half. Shiro slowly pulled off the rest of his clothes, tugging out his own towel from the bag to match Matt, who bent down to untie the bandages around his leg. This was when Shiro realized they were still wearing Fiona’s flower crown, so he took his and Matt’s and put them on the bench, patiently waiting for Matt to finish up before they both made their way out the door opposite to the one they came in.

The next room was way warmer than the one they had come from, steam somewhat blurring their vision. It was kind of small, cozy even, with an inactive bubble bath taking up most of the space. Shiro smiled softly, it had been a while since he had been in one of those. He turned to see Matt watch him, and quirked his brow in question as Matt wore a rather serious expression. Matt met his eyes as he spoke.

“We should let Coran check you before we leave. He might figure out something useful.”

Shiro looked down at himself as he realized Matt had been looking at the bite-marks on his body. They seemed even better than the night before, less red and irritated. He nodded at Matt as he took his hand and pulled the other with him into the bubble bath. He turned to face Matt as he sat down in the warm water, letting the warmth push the soreness out of his muscles. He felt himself quickly soften up from the inside out as Matt settled in front of him, his serious expression replaced with a soft smile.

They sat there in a comfortable silence, only listening to the water hit the edge of the bath and a few drops falling to the floor as they moved. At some point their hands interlaced, Shiro bringing one of Matt’s hands to him as he softly pressed his lips against the back of his hand. The distance between the two shortened as Shiro let his head fall to rest on the others shoulder, his nose dipping into the water every now and then. He felt Matt’s hand on his back, moving in slow circles. The two stayed like that for a while, letting the water wash all the tiredness and dirt off their bodies, relaxation being a luxury they hadn’t allowed themselves to have for a long time now.

Shiro didn’t know how much time passed like this, but at some point they both decided to get out. Spending the rest of their day in the bath was tempting, but they had things to do. They had gotten a change of clothes in the bags given to them, which they changed into once they had dried off. Shiro didn’t forget the flower crowns, taking them with him along with the dirty clothes and towels as they left the wardrobe. They made their way to the desk by the front door where they met Florona, leaning against the desk and talking to a boy not much older than her. Shiro was a bit surprised at her still being there as they had used a fair amount of time – and flustered, for the same reason, as neither of them realized she’d be waiting. She only smiled and nodded, their interaction cut short as she took their dirty clothes and towels to wash, leaving the boy to explain them the direction to where they’d find Coran.

They got lost once, but found their way with the help of the townspeople. They ended up in front of a small, two-story house with an open door. Shiro lead them in, tentatively stepping inside and calling out in hopes of getting an answer. They heard the legs of a chair scrape above them, and two pair of feet hurrying across the floor, soon appearing at the top of the small staircase in front of them. As the feet continued down, they were shown carrying a tall, lanky, older man, with fiery red hair and a mustache like Shiro had never seen. He stopped at the bottom of the staircase, looking at the two with a smile as he clapped his hands together, speaking with an accent Shiro had difficulties placing – Australian, maybe?

“Welcome! You two must be Matt and Shiro. I’m Coran, I’ve heard so much about the both of you, especially from Fiona,” the ginger winked and Shiro’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“You know Fiona?”

“Well, of course I know Fiona! Who doesn’t, she makes herself known! She was here earlier today for a checkup, couldn’t stop talking about you. Now, I know you two are eager to get moving, I only have a little to pack and we can go.” Coran motioned to go up the stairs, when Matt spoke up.

“Uh, actually Coran, we were hoping you’d take a look at Shiro before we left. See if you could.. figure something out,” he said. Shiro looked at Matt, realizing the other was worried. Something in Shiro clicked. Of course Matt was worried, he had been the one to save Shiro, multiple times. Killing the zombies, getting him out of the facility, bandaging him up and protecting him when Shiro were in no condition to defend himself. Shiro had almost died and Matt had helped him through it all. Of course he’d want a professionals opinion.

“That is no problem my boy, we can do that straight away. Is there anything else?” The ginger smiled, his voice soft, eyes crinkling with wisdom that came with age. Matt hesitated, but eventually spoke again.

“Yeah, uh, we don’t have any gas left? Or, we have some, but I highly doubt it’ll even be enough to even get out of the woods. I forgot until you mentioned us leaving, so many other things has been happening since we came here..” Matt was fidgeting now, Shiro knew he didn’t like bothering others more than necessary, being overly self-conscious when he felt like he asked for too much at once. Shiro put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down a little.

“Matt is right,” Shiro said as he looked back at Coran. “I forgot too, but we’ll definitely need more gas.” He could feel Matt relax a little under his hand as he kept his eyes on Coran, who nodded with a serious expression.

“Yes, of course. Well, what about this: Matt, you go speak to Hunk about getting more gas. He’s the one in control of our nearest functional gas-stations, so he’ll know how to help you. He’s most likely in the community tent. If you can’t find him there, I’m sure the ones on cooking duty can help you find him. Meanwhile, Shiro, I’ll do a checkup on you. Is that fine by you?”

Shiro turned to Matt, who hesitated a moment, thinking the plan over, before nodding to the taller man. Shiro smiled softly before turning to Coran, who smiled with satisfaction. Shortly after, Matt left the house to find Hunk while Shiro followed Coran upstairs. He was led to a sizeable room with little furniture except some cabinets and shelves, a desk and chair and an examination table akin the one Shiro had been strapped to back in the facility.

Shiro shuddered involuntarily as his mind filled with memories of the night he had subconsciously been repressing. The white ceiling above him, the restraints around his wrists and ankles, the blinding white pain shooting through his body, and the familiar groans getting closer, and closer, _and closer, and_ –

Coran’s voice shook him out of the whirlwind of memories overtaking his thoughts, now standing closer than he had been seconds earlier, with a worried look on his face. Shiro realized he was shaking as he lifted his hand to wipe his brow, deciding to ignore it along with his blurrier vision. He told Coran he was fine, and sat down on the examination table as he breathed out, trying to steady his beating heart as he reminded himself that he was safe.

Coran fiddled with something at the desk for a few minutes, giving Shiro a moment to gather himself before they moved on to the examination itself. It was relatively easy, though it took some time as Coran wanted to be thorough. He seemed a bit surprised when Shiro undid his bandages to reveal the bites being mostly-healed, asking questions about when he had been bitten, and what he had done since. Shiro answered to the best of his abilities, although many things were muddy at best. He bemusedly watched the older man mumble to himself as he made notes in an old notebook, moving when told, but otherwise just sitting there, waiting for the ginger’s verdict.

In the end Coran didn’t find out very much. He predicted Shiro being more or less fully healed within a few days, if the healing speed kept up at the pace it had been at since he had gotten bitten. Something that did surprise Shiro however, was when Coran told him his heart rate was alarmingly slow. To the point where Coran had felt the need to check twice just to make sure his heart actually was beating. Shiro had been a bit shocked at this, not feeling much different in ways that couldn’t be blamed on the wounds his body were sporting. They both came to the conclusion that it’d be easier to see once the wounds were healed, and agreed that Coran would keep monitoring Shiro’s body for any drastic changes.

Shiro did his best in bandaging himself up while Coran packed the last of his things – helping Shiro when he asked, of course. Soon they were out the door and down the street, in search of Matt. When they came to the tent, neither Matt nor Hunk were there and the two were directed to the gates which Shiro and Matt had come through the day before.

The first thing Shiro noticed as they approached the old gates was a tow truck which had not been there before, their car tied to it, and Hunk using one hand to support himself against the side as he spoke with a smaller person – Matt. They were both laughing and smiling as Coran and Shiro approaching, Matt turning to greet the two.

As the four gathered, Matt and Hunk explained the plan. They would use the truck to tow the car to a car oil refinery a few hours away from the town, where they’d be able to stock up on enough gas to hopefully last to California. From there they’d part, Hunk would take the truck back to town while the three went on their way with the car.

Neither Coran nor Shiro had any protests against this plan, and so things were set in motion for them to leave as quickly as possible, Matt helping Coran with loading the things he had packed. It was more than Shiro thought necessary, but then again Coran was a doctor. He was probably bringing some things that would be needed when they least expected it.

Just as they were finishing up and about ready to leave, Shay appeared, running down the road with a backpack in each hand. Hunk went to meet her, and the two embraced. She kissed him and Shiro saw her speak silently, assuming they were sharing some sweet words as she handed the backpacks over to Hunk, as he couldn’t hear what they were saying. Coran silently explained to the two men that the married couple a few meters away had gotten in the habit of saying farewell as if it was their last whenever one of them left town. Shiro thought it was a nice thing to do, making sure their last words would always be ones of love.

Hunk returned with the backpacks, handing them to Matt and Shiro as he told them Shay had put their washed and dried clothes in, along with some food that’d last them the first few days. Shiro gave a nod in thanks to Shay who stood further away, hands folded with a smile. They threw the backpacks in the car and with a last wave to Shay they climbed into the front of the truck, barely fitting all four of them.

The gates opened and except for a few overrun zombies that had been in the way as they left the town, their exit was smooth. Coran and Hunk led most of the conversation, which let Matt sit and stare out the window, deep in thought. At some point, Shiro had put his hand over the others’ and squeezed gently, earning a soft smile from Matt. The trip was relatively peaceful, until about halfway, when the walkie Hunk had strapped to his belt buzzed to life.

“Kzzht – Balmera Base to Gourmet Guru. Hunk, are you there?”

Everyone went silent as Shay’s voice filled the car, Hunk fumbling with his belt to unhook the walkie while trying to keep the truck stable. Shiro felt somewhat uneasy – something about Shay’s voice felt different, it was shaky, quiet almost. As if she’d been running, hiding, _as if something had happened_. He watched Hunk as he quickly put the walkie up to his mouth, nervously eyeing the road.

“This is Hunk speaking, what’s up Shay?”

It took a few minutes for Shay to answer, the tension in the truck rising with each passing second.

“Kzzt – Z’s got in, town overrun. Hunk, do not, I repeat, do not come back here.”

The abrupt stop of the truck made it skid down the road a little as Hunk sat frozen, staring at the walkie in his hand. Coran stared in horror at Hunk, while Matt quickly put his hands in front of his mouth to strangle a pained noise, eyes already stinging. Shiro felt his heart jump up in his throat before falling to his stomach, feeling as if someone had just hollowed out everything inside him.

“N-no way..” Hunk shakenly spoke as he lifted the walkie again.

“Shay, Shay, you’re kidding, right? Shay, don’t joke like that.. I-I’m coming back right now.”

“Hunk, no! Please do not come back, I’m begging you. Go with them, find the cure and save the rest of humanity. Remember what the Green Paladin said yesterday. Remember what we discussed, be someone else’s hope. I have to go, they need me.. Hunk.. I’m sorry. I love you.”

The walkie went silent, the four men in the truck stunned with shock. Tears were silently running from Hunk’s eyes as he stared in disbelief at the small device in his hands. Matt was the only one making any noise at first, sobbing into his hands as tears blinded him. Shiro tried to swallow down his own shock as he wrapped his arms around Matt, pulling him closer. He wasn’t sure if it was to comfort Matt, or himself.

He started thinking of the people he’d met and spoken to in that little town. Shay, the children, the guards, the townspeople, Florona, _Fiona_.

Just as Shiro started to feel the burn behind his eyes, he heard the car door open. He turned his head to see Hunk climb out with a furious expression. Coran, who had sat in shock with a hand in front of his mouth, now tried to speak reason to Hunk – who slammed the door behind him, in Coran’s face.

Shiro could hear his furious scream as Hunk pulled out a knife from his belt and plummeted into the nearest zombie. A few had gathered around the truck after they had stopped, and Hunk was letting all of his anger out at them. At some point he let go of the knife to physically mow down one of the zombies, pinning it down with his weight and pounding his knuckles into its skull as he screamed and scream, tears staining his cheeks red.

However, Hunk had ignored a few zombies in favor of doing this act of revenge. Zombies, who were now making their way towards him. They never made it far enough to reach him however, as Coran had quickly climbed out of the truck and pulled out a gun, shooting down every last one of the ones close by. If Hunk heard the gunshots over his own screaming and righteous fury, he didn’t pay it any heed, not stopping his rhythmic pounding at the now long-dead zombie.

Not until Coran slowly made his way to the younger, bigger man. Not until he put a hand on Hunk’s shoulder. Not until Hunk turned to meet Coran with a fury in his eyes that quickly died down the second he saw who was standing there. Shiro saw Coran’s mouth move, saw Hunk react to the words he spoke by breaking down and crying. He saw all this from inside the truck, pressing his sobbing mess of a friend against him. He made sure Matt didn’t see the massacre outside, keeping him close in his embrace.

Eventually the two men climbed back in the truck, Coran taking the wheel as Hunk sat with his hands in his lap, bloodied, sweaty, and shaking. The rest of the ride to the oil refinery was quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wELP!! seems like shiro was right in wanting to leave, like, yesterday.. im kind of glad i got to explore hunks character a bit more, cuz yeah he's a big soft teddy bear but i still think there's potential for him to get *really* angry, and in turn, *really* dangerous. so theres my take on that.
> 
> (uhh also it might be a little while until the next chapter comes out; im leaving home for 4 days on monday, not coming back until thursday and then im working the day after (friday). idk if i'll be able to write a lot during this time, and i've got some other drabbles to work on, but i promise ill try my best to get something out soon ;;A;; maybe a lil sth from shay's pov?)
> 
> scream @ me on my tumblr: sushisocks.tumblr.com
> 
> if you're liking this fic, please leave a kudos and a comment! it really helps my motivation ;;A;;


	7. I'll Make It Up To You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little thing from Shay's pov

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANKS TO REESE FOR BETAING ILY UR A SAINT, MATT FOR PSYCHING ME UP ABT EVERYTHING, KL KL FOR BEING A+ BEST SERVER, AND KAEL FOR BEING WAY TOO NICE 
> 
> i wrote this in 15 mins bcz I Had To(tm)

When Shay realized what had happened, when she heard the screaming, and the groans, it was already too late. Too many had already been killed and turned by the time she had found the gun hidden in their house. Her mission had been clear, get to the communications tower and contact Hunk, tell him not to come back, tell him to be safe.

 

She didn’t know how it had led to this, how they had gotten past their walls, but there hadn’t been any time to think. Fire and smoke rose in town as she slowly inched her way across town, choosing to hide instead of meeting the undead in fear of meeting a pair of undead eyes she knew.

 

She made her way to the tower with little problem, and found the walkie connected to the one she knew Hunk had with him. She was the one who ensured he brought it. When it finally was in her hand, she let out a sigh of relief. It was interrupted though, by a load groan from the exit door. Her gaze went from the small device in her hand to a small girl blocking her path out. She recognized the little figure, no older than seven, with red hair in pigtails and big blue eyes now turned black. She knew her, knew how she loved to talk, how she loved to meet strangers, how she loved to make flower crowns.

 

Shay choked a sob as she aimed her gun, closing her eyes to stop her tears from welling over as she pulled the trigger. Two bodies fell to the ground, one limp, the other heaving for air, refusing to look at what she had just done. She let herself rest against a cabinet, a hand subconsciously falling to her abdomen.

 

Children.

 

She and Hunk had talked about it. She knew how much he loved the kids they had in town. However, they both had big responsibilities and could not put it on hold for a child. They had decided to wait, and see.

 

When she realized, just a week prior, she wanted to tell him right away. She wanted to scream and jump in his arms with joy, let him swirl her around and laugh with excitement like he did when she came home from missions, he was the only one who’d ever done that with her.  She decided to wait, wanting the moment to be extra special. She planned a dinner, something romantic and different for just the two of them, a personal, intimate moment. It was to be shared between the two of them, and them only.

 

A laugh escaped her. How could she ever forget this world wasn’t romantic, intimate or personal. How had she ever gotten the thought that they would ever share time again? She should’ve just told him, let them live with extra hope for the future, just for a week.

 

She heard more screams and gunshots outside, and sighed, looking at the walkie in her hand. It felt like forever before it was finally close enough to her mouth for her to be sure they’d hear her on the other side of the line. She pushed in the button and spoke.

“This is Balmera Base to Gourmet Guru. Hunk, are you there?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hRK YA THIS IS JUST 500 WORDS OF ANGST
> 
> scream at me at my tumblr: sushisocks.tumblr.com
> 
> please leave a kudos and a comment if you're liking this fic, it really gives me motivation ;;A;;


	8. Say them on another day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro finds out more about himself, and the gang gets another member!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaa guys!!!!! I feel like it has been forever since I updated (it has been 10 days, which, granted, is my longest no-update pause yet).  
> Life rly kicked my butt this last week n i just okijuyt goddamn when can I post?? Welp, now I can!!!!!!!!! Here yall go, but first:::
> 
> Thanks to Reese and Mogi for betaing!!!!! Lifesavers, the two of you!!  
> Thanks to Rose for helping me w the chap name, 'ppriciate it!!!!!  
> To Kael for (finally) watching Voltron and for talking w me abt the show!!!!  
> N ofc Matt, bcz, Matt. Boi. Just thank you.

None of them spoke for the duration of the drive, with Hunk clenching his walkie in his hands as Shiro kept his fingers intertwined with Matt’s in silent comfort. Coran kept his eyes on the road, his grip tight on the steering wheel. It was tense, none of them were able to relax where they sat, a thick forest and quiet road giving them little else to think of but the memories they had made in the town.

“Green Paladin to Team Voltron. Come in, Team Voltron, this is Green Paladin speaking, do you copy?”

The two-way radio on Matt’s hip spurred to life as a familiar voice filled the truck, sounding somewhat panicked. Matt hurried to answer.

“This is Team Voltron, we copy.”

“Oh thank god you’re safe. I’ve been trying to contact the Balmera base for an update on your mission, but there hasn’t been an answer for hours. At this point, I assumed..”

Shiro swallowed the lump in his throat as Pidge trailed off, the silence deafening. She didn’t know, of course she didn’t. Who would have told her, except for the four sitting in that truck? He watched Matt take a deep breath before answering.

“We’re safe. We left town with the doctor, accompanied by a civilian a few hours ago. The base was overrun, it’s been about an hour since we had any contact with them. We have… assumed the worst.”

Shiro didn’t dare look at Hunk as Matt spoke. He barely dared to look when Matt finished speaking, and he felt Hunk lean back against his seat. Matt gave him a reassuring squeeze as he turned to seek Hunk’s eyes. He never met them, however, as Hunk had one arm hiding his watering eyes from the others, his tear-stained cheeks making it crystal clear what emotions were raging inside him. Shiro could see his jaw clench and unclench, the bigger man grit his teeth as he held back any sound of mourning.

Shiro couldn’t help but think of how he’d react if he ever lost Matt in the same way Hunk had lost Shay. He would never have been able to keep himself together as well as Hunk was. It would be too much, way too much. They’d experienced enough already. A tense silence filled the car as thoughts swirled in Shiro’s head. Then Pidge’s voice came again from the radio in Matt’s hands.

“Understood. I’ll notify the allied bases close by and see what I figure out. Keep the radio close, I’ll contact you again soon.”

 

After a short answer to confirm Matt had heard everything from the other end, the truck became quiet once again. This time however, the silence lasted a shorter time. They soon reached their destination. The forest gave way to an old-looking, abandoned factory that Shiro assumed was the oil refinery, with a warehouse mirroring its position on the other side of the road. The area was quiet as they parked the truck in front of the refinery, no zombies were visible, at least not at first glance. .

The four men quickly climbed out of the truck and unhooked the car from the back of the truck. After some discussion between them, they decided to split up: Hunk and Coran were to go search for gas in the factory while Shiro and Matt went to the warehouse across the road to look for supplies. Shiro decided to bring the backpacks Shay had given them, handing one to Matt as they made their way over the roadway.

The short walk across the road was silent, the news of the town still fresh in their minds as they both pulled their guns out to have at the ready. There were two entrances, one large sectional door obviously meant for trucks and bigger vehicles, and one normal, wooden door next to it. The two went for the smaller door, Shiro silently praying for the door to be unlocked. Once they were close enough, Matt reached forwards and slowly tugged at the door handle.

It gave way and the door opened with a simple push. Somehow, that made Shiro even uneasier. They carefully stepped inside, eyes readjusting to the darkness of the unlit space they had just walked into. The building encompassed one large room, filled to the ends with large shelves placed in a grid-like system, which in turn were filled with various things, everything from toys, to games, food, even _weapons_. The shelves blocked most of the view, making it a high possibility of there being undead waiting in the shadows.

Matt and Shiro eyed each other, obviously nervous when faced with the question as to why there were so much stuff here, so many untouched supplies. Shiro grit his teeth as he raised his gun and started slowly making his way down between two of the shelves, Matt following closely behind. Their steps were uncertain, eyes darting back and forth as they passed shelf after shelf. Soon, they were by a shelf that was filled with cans of stored food. Matt quickly swung the backpack off his shoulders and opened it, pulling cans off and putting them in his backpack while Shiro stood watch.

Shiro felt himself relax just a little as his eyes got adjusted to the dark, when suddenly he saw something move in the shadows. He froze up and aimed his gun at where he thought he saw the movement. Just then, it moved again. Whatever it was, it definitely was quick. Shiro instantly knew something was wrong.

“Matt, get up on the shelves,” he said, not turning to look at his partner, his eyes fixated on the constantly moving creature in the shadows.

“Shiro, what are you –“

“Just do it!”

He heard some shuffling, some wood creaking, and with a quick glance he could see the backpack left on the floor and Matt atop one of the shelves, looking down at him with a curious expression.

Satisfied with Matt’s placing, Shiro’s eyes returned to where they had been, looking for the movement, only to be met with a pair of eyes with no pupils or sclera, a gray color taking up the entire eyeball. Shiro took a step back in surprise, blinking as he gave the figure a few meters away from him a lookover. Humanoid in stature, yet not human. The clothes were ripped and torn in multiple places, hanging onto it body as mere rags. Even in the dark, Shiro could see the blood and dirt covering any colors that had originally ordained the shirt. He could see its skin, seemingly torched black, with some of it peeling only to reveal an even darker color. There was no hair to be seen on its head, and its mouth was bared in a dog-like snarl that revealed its _fangs_ , as it took up a predatory stance.

Shiro barely had time to blink before this creature stood towering right in front of him, so close that he could smell the dirt and blood of its clothes. His heart stopped as he stared in fear, the creature leaning closer as it sniffed twice. This was it, this was his last living moments, he was certain. He could hear Matt gasp in the distance. Shiro, on the other hand, held his breath in the anticipation of literally being torn apart.

Instead, the creature leant back, and _Shiro swore it was meeting his gaze with those grey pools for eyes_. Half a second later it was standing under the shelf Matt was sitting atop of. It stared up at the brunet, and Shiro didn’t breathe as he watched Matt aim his gun at the creature.

It screeched, and started clawing at the shelves below Matt, obviously trying to get to the human out of its reach. That what was when Shiro realized two things in the spur of a second: First, this creature, for whatever reason, had decided against eating Shiro for lunch and was now trying to reach Matt instead, despite Shiro being easier to catch. Second, _it didn’t know how to climb_.

Shiro watched it struggle against the tall shelves for another moment, before quickly spurring into action. He pulled out a knife from his belt, and with a quick step and stab to the head, the creature fell limply to the ground. He let out a deep breath as his heart slowed its pounding, and watched as Matt climbed down the shelves. After he was safely on the ground, the two spent a moment to stare at the now-dead unfamiliar creature on the floor. Just as Matt turned to Shiro to question him about what had happened, they heard a voice from the door they had stepped in merely minutes before. Thankfully, this was a voice they knew.

“Hey guys, uh, Coran said you might wanna see thi—Oh wow. Wow. Is that..”

Shiro turned to see Hunk step in, his eyes trained on the body on the floor. Shiro quirked a brow as Hunk whistled with an impressed expression.

“Wow. I knew the two of you were good, since you’re military men and all, but to kill a runner!”

“You know what this thing is?” Matt said, carefully poking the dead creature with his foot.

“Wait, you’ve never seen one before? And you killed it? Wow.. Just, wow.” Hunk took a moment to process this, before speaking again. “These things are runners, but I’ve also heard vambies being used for them too, because they kinda look like vampires I guess – though I personally think zompires sound better. The kids in town –“ He stopped, a pained expression flashing on his face before he collected himself. Something told Shiro that Hunk and Coran had talked, something Coran had said must have reasoned with Hunk as he seemed calmer now.  “A-Anyway, they’re kind of an advanced version of zombies, or well, they’re like the way  faster version of zombies, but they’re also way more stupid, like newborn puppy stupid. I’ve only ever seen them in dark spaces like this, I don’t think they like brightness very much.”

“I see,” said Shiro as he looked down on the dead runner. He thought of how it had decided to attack Matt instead of him. “Are they picky eaters?”

“Hah, far from it. They’re with humans as I am with pancakes. There’s less people in the places they often reside, so if they first catch a human, there will be little more than the shoes they wore left. That’s probably why there’s so few of them too.”

Shiro gave a look which was returned by Matt, the two having a silent conversation for a few seconds before being interrupted by Hunk.

“Oh yeah, anyway, we found something you guys ought to see. Or.. someone..”

With that, Hunk was out the door, motioning for them to follow him. Shiro gave Matt a confused look, and Matt could do nothing but shrug, knowing as much as the other. They quickly filled their backpacks with the cans of food, and followed the bigger man out of the building and across the road. Shiro noticed a few gas tanks standing by the car, assuming that was what Hunk and Coran had found before whatever had happened that made them feel the need to go get Shiro and Matt.

Hunk led them past the factory, walking around it. They met Coran at a corner, who was peeking at something around the corner that Shiro couldn’t see from where he was standing. Coran put a finger to his mouth, as to tell them to keep quiet, as he moved out of the way for them to see a large bear cage surrounded by zombies. Zombies, who by the looks of it, were trying to get to whatever placed in the middle of that cage.

Shiro turned to look at Matt, who was watching the cage and surrounding zombies with lifted eyebrows. He followed his friend's gaze back to the undead who had yet to notice the four at the corner. Then, Shiro started walking towards the cage, towards the zombies. He felt himself driven by curiosity, by a need to understand, to know. Why that runner had ignored him, why it had chosen to go for Matt instead, and if the zombies were the same, if they would react the same.

Within seconds, he stood behind one of them, a male stinking with the smell of rotten flesh. Without a second thought, Shiro reached forward and touched its shoulder, making it stagger and slowly turn around. Shiro met a pair of black pools of eyes, a face with a missing nose and jaw. He could see the inside of its throat, rotten and infected. He waited for the zombie to make the connection that he was living, waited for it to attack him. But nothing happened. Instead, the zombie made a gurgling sound, it sounded almost questioning to Shiro’s ears. Shiro stood frozen, eyebrows furrowed as the zombie stared at him, as if waiting for something.

“What is wrong with me?” he whispered, only for the undead in front of him to hear. It responded with another gurgle.

Suddenly a knife dug into the zombies’ skull, only to be pulled out the second later. The zombie fell to its ground, pulling Shiro out of his frozen state as he met a pair of worried, blue eyes.

“Are you okay, my boy?” Coran inquired, wiping the knife on his thigh. Shiro blinked confusedly and looked around, to see Matt and Hunk making their way around the cage, killing off zombie by zombie in a methodical fashion.

“Yeah, I’m.. Fine,” Shiro answered, changing his gaze to the cage, now able to see what – or who – was inside.

A figure sat curled together in the middle of the cage, safely out of reach from any prying arms from the outside, his arms around his legs and head between his knees. Raven hair hid his features, his clothes dirtied, a sword hanging on his back. He seemed weirdly relaxed, and something told Shiro he was asleep.

Hunk, Matt, and Shiro gathered at one of the sides as Coran approached the cage door, quickly using the back of his gun to break the lock keeping the door shut. The ginger cautiously made his way towards the middle of the cage, one hand reaching out towards the figure, and one hand holding his gun.

 

The moment Coran made contact with the sitting figure, the young man stirred into action. Within seconds Coran had the gun hit out of his hand and was pushed against the bars with an incredible force, a knife against his throat and a hand on his chest, keeping him in place. He barely dared to swallow as fiery dark blue eyes met his, hearing a chorus of “whoawhoawhoa” and “nononono” from the three men on the other side of the bars.

Then Shiro said something that stuck out, something that made the young man in the cage freeze up. He let out a name, before truly realizing that he recognized the man, that he _knew_ his name. A name he hadn’t spoken in years, belonging to a person he never thought he’d ever see again after the virus broke out.

“Keith.”

Shiro could see the younger figure freeze, could see him process and slowly turn towards him as he let go of Coran, who let out a sigh of relief as the knife left his throat. Shiro met the gaze of a man who had been a boy the last time he saw him.

“Shiro, you’re aliv— Ngh…!” Keith stumbled back, Coran quick in catching him and helping him stay on his feet. Shiro quickly made his way past the cage door and to Keith’s side, doing his best to help Coran keep him up.

“God, how long have you been in here?” Shiro’s voice was dripping with worry, him and Coran slowly helping Keith out of the cage.

“A few days,” Keith grunted as they helped him sit down against the factory wall, Shiro quickly motioning to Matt for him to bring a can of food from their backpacks. He used a knife to pry it open, and handed it to Keith, who carefully lifted the can to his lips and gulped down whatever it contained – Shiro couldn’t see what it was properly from where he stood. Once Keith finished, he put the can down and looked up at Shiro.

“I thought you were dead.”

Shiro bit his lip, averting his gaze.

“I know. I’m sorry, I couldn’t..” He sighed. “I don’t have an explanation that’s good enough.”

Keith groaned as he slowly stood up with help from the wall, Shiro quickly stepping in to help. The two looked at each other and Shiro couldn’t help but notice how different the other looked. His hair was longer, he had become more muscular and his features looked sharper than Shiro remembered them. Keith had really grown these last six years. They both took a moment to regard each other, Shiro noticing how Keith grit his teeth and dug his nails into his palms as he took some time to think his words over. It felt like ages to Shiro, but in reality it only took a few seconds for Keith to breathe out heavily and let his shoulders drop.

“I’m just glad you’re alive.”

Shiro pulled his younger brother into a hug, tears threatening to fall from his eyes as he felt the other's arms hesitantly swing around his torso, felt how much taller Keith had become, how different it was to hug him, yet how familiar as well.

After a moment of blinking away his tears, he pulled away and looked down at Keith with a small smile, which the shorter man returned. Then Shiro remembered the rest of their family, their dad and Keith’s mother – Shiro’s stepmother.

“What about dad? And Kathy?” Shiro asked, only for Keith to look down and shake his head wordlessly, causing Shiro to sigh sadly with a short nod. He then turned to the three men who were standing by the cage and obviously listening to their conversation. Once they noticed Shiro shifting his attention, two out of three turned to the cage, acting as if they were inspecting it. Matt just stood there with his arms crossed across his chest, a gentle smile playing at his lips. Shiro smiled back, putting an arm around Keith’s shoulders as he brought him over to the others.

“Guys, this is my brother, Keith. Keith, this is Matt. We’ve known each other since we joined the military, trained together and stationed at the same place. And these two are Hunk and Coran, they’ve been helping us out a lot,” Shiro spoke as he pointed at each person by turn, and letting go of Keith in the process. Keith nodded as he listened, and once Shiro finished his introductions, Hunk spoke up.

“Right, it’s very nice to meet you Keith, but uh, we found you asleep in a bear cage surrounded by zombies. Am I the only one with several questions as to _how_ that happened?” Hunk looked around at the others with a confused expression. “I mean, I know it’s the apocalypse and all, but that _is_ weird.”

None of the others could deny it, their gazes turning to Keith, who seemed to fidget a bit, picking at his sleeve before answering.

“I was locked in.”

“Yeah, no, we get that, but _how_ —“ Hunk started, before he was interrupted by the radio on Matt’s belt.

“Green Paladin to Team Voltron, come in Team Voltron. I have crucial information for you.”

She sounded stressed, which worried not only Shiro, but everyone else in the small group. Everyone’s heads snapped to Matt, who was already lifting the radio up to his mouth.

“Team Voltron answering, we hear you loud and clear, Paladin,” Matt spoke, meeting Shiro’s worried eyes.

“You guys need to find somewhere to hide and barricade yourselves in _right now_.”

“Woah, why? What’s going on?”

There was a short moment of pause as they waited for Pidge to answer, luckily it didn’t take too long. It was easy to hear the worry in her voice.

“During the last few weeks I’ve lost contact with a few bases and refugee camps, starting with a refugee camp in Canada. I didn’t realize before now that there has been a pattern to it, each base I lose contact with has each been more and more to the south. I’ve found some visuals on towns and bases that have been run over and it has been enough to confirm my suspicions. There is a wave of zombies making it’s way down America, and you guys are positioned to end up smack in the middle of it. It’s too big to fight, _just_ _save yourselves_.”

The urgency in her voice was enough to make the group spur into action, quickly making their way to the front of the factory where the car was placed. Matt gave a quick response to Pidge as Keith told them of an abandoned town nearby with multiple intact buildings, places they could barricade off and hide at for a while. Shiro and Matt took Keith with them as they ran across the road to the warehouse, quickly collecting even more food, as much as they could carry. None of them knew exactly how big this supposed wave was going to be, and so Shiro had decided it was better to prepare for the best. They all ignored the dead runner on the floor, and quickly made their way back to the car, arms filled with the food they found. By then, Hunk had already started the car, and Coran was loading the gas tanks into the trunk. The three men threw the food in the back of the car, and helped Coran put in the last tanks. Matt closed the trunk and they all scurried to get in the car. They were out on the road within minutes, Hunk driving with Keith showing the way in the passenger seat.

It didn’t take too long for them to reach the town Keith spoke of, driving through the empty streets. In the end Coran made Hunk stop in front of a hospital, a tall, square building. Coran explained that there would most likely be both medical equipment and food in the building, along with multiple beds. Nobody protested, finding his reasoning good enough.

 

The first order of business was to search through the hospital, to note all exits and make sure it wasn’t filled with zombies. They were lucky, only a few lingered. When the virus had just broken out, the hospitals had been the riskiest place to be. The open doors they had met in this building let the undead wander in and out as they wished. Most of the zombies they met as they made their way up to the roof, and down again, were strapped to tables or wheelchairs. There was little to actually fight, which Shiro found to be a blessing.

Once they were satisfied, and all the zombies inside were dead, they brought in all the food in the car and barricaded the entrance doors, along with the other exits. For now they were more concerned with keeping everything else out, than for them to eventually have a way to get out. Once the exit doors were barricaded, everyone relaxed a bit more, now able to map and plan out the building they had decided to hide in. Coran and Hunk quickly realized that they needed to shut off the first floor windows, and got Matt and Keith to help them, while Shiro sorted through their food, Coran insistent on him taking it easy.

When they were sure there’d be no way for the oncoming zombie horde to get inside the building, they started to discuss what they could use in the building. Keith confirmed that there was access to the roof from the highest floor, while Hunk told them that he had found even more food stored away in the cafeteria, a lot of it had molded, but he was sure there’d be something useable in there. The cafeteria was placed on one of the higher floors, and so it was more convenient for them all to find beds in the upper levels. Coran wanted to explore and see if he could find any useful equipment or supplies. Hunk retreated into the cafeteria, bringing the food they had with him. Shiro let himself sit down on an old, dusty couch, not quite sure what to do next but to wait. Matt kissed him chastely on his forehead as he murmured a few words about talking with Katie, before disappearing into a room.

This left Shiro alone with Keith, who quirked a brow at the intimacy Matt and Shiro shared, but decided against questioning it. Shiro let out a sigh he felt he had been holding in since they heard from Shay and leant back in the couch, trying to work out some of the tension in his body. Keith stood a few meters away from him, leaning against the wall with his arms across his chest, and watching Shiro like a hawk. The atmosphere was tense and somewhat awkward. The brothers had a lot of unspoken words between them, words that would have to come to light sooner or later. Shiro knew this, and he’d rather work it out now, in the false sense of safety, than when they were back to fighting zombies.

 

He turned his head to meet Keith’s gaze, and opened his mouth to speak, only for Keith to forestall him.

“I’m going up to the roof to keep watch.”

Shiro could do little but nod and watch as the raven haired man turned and made his way towards the stairs. He didn’t want to pressure his brother into talking, and he assumed they had time. So, he was left to his own devices until Matt came back fifteen minutes later. They spent their time together, hours flying by as mere seconds.

It took half a day for the wave to hit the town. Pidge hadn’t undermined its size, as Keith had come to get them and brought them all up to the roof, all Shiro could see was rotting humanoid figures filling up the streets to the point where he could barely see the ground.

It took weeks before they were able to leave.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God im tired. Work has been A Lot this summer n i just edrtfyuik im feeling like the ughhhh feeling you get you know, it s sad bcz work used to be a lot of fun... Anywho, theres Keith!!! And a bigass zombie wave (highkey inspired by the zunami in znation if any of yall have seen that one.. tho this one is bigger, i needed to put some weeks in here for reasons soon to be revealed)
> 
> This chap wasnt as big as the two previous ones but bigger than some of the really short ones, so im happy.. Next one will come as soon as im able loiuytgyuhi
> 
> Scream at my @ my tumblr: sushisocks.tumblr.com
> 
> If you're liking this fic, please leave a like and comment, it really helps on my motivation to hear what you all think!! ;;A;;


	9. Bad day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge blames herself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little in-between chapter because I realized this fic doesnt have enough pidge..
> 
> Thanks to Reese for betaing!!
> 
> Thanks to Rose and Star for their encouragement! 
> 
> And everyone else in the klkl server :**

Pidge trudged back and forth on the floor, biting at the chipped nail on her thumb as she thought. She’d endangered the very few people with any hope of saving this wretched world. She had overlooked crucial information and as a consequence people had died. More people than necessary.

She halted her stride and turned towards a wall filled with notes, pictures and prints with information, a map of North-America taking up the most space as it had been pinned in the center of her board. She thumbed her lips as she walked closer to the map, looking it over.

The map had been drawn on many times over, many small circles hiding towns-names. Each of them symbolized a base, camp, or settlement of survivors. Many of the circles had in time gotten red crosses drawn over them as Pidge lost contact with them. Sometimes survivors would contact her and confirm the destruction of a base, other times she was left to speculate ‘til the end of times.

She eyed the most recently x-marked circle. Balmera Base. Her eyes trailed up the map, towards the Canada border. As her gaze moved upwards, she saw a multitude of crossed out circles, silently damning herself for not seeing the pattern earlier. She shifted her gaze to look at the route her brother had taken, which she had marked with the help of some pins and thread.

They had driven in a half-circle around the worst of the horde, thanks to Pidge’s directions. Matt and Shiro going to get Coran had placed them right in front of the horde’s noses. Pidge cursed herself for endangering her brother, for not realizing what was going on earlier, and for not being able to warn the base.

She let out a grunt in annoyance as she turned away from the map, trying to calm herself down.

If she had just figured it out a bit quicker, all those people could have… She sighed as she shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts for now. Quickly, she strode across the room and seated herself in front of the screens screwed to the wall, trying to distract herself by checking the weather. She decided she could do a broadcast later with weather predictions for the different bases she had contact with. She knew they enjoyed that. At least, it would give her something else to think about as she waited for her brother to contact her again.

Time flew as she wrote down the forecast for the week ahead for several different bases and areas. What pulled her out of her focused state was the voice she had been waiting for, buzzing from the speaker.

“Hey, Katie, it’s Matt. You there?”

She was quick to drop her pen in favor of answering her brother.

“Of course I am. How are you guys, are you safe?” She leant back in her chair, pulling her mic with her as she stared up at the ceiling, waiting for Matt’s answer.

“Yeah, we’re holed up in an abandoned hospital building for now. We have provisions for a while onwards, I’m not sure for how long exactly. And, uh… We picked up someone new.”

Pidge paused, staring at the mic in front of her as if she expected it to say something. Someone new had joined them? Why? How could they know to trust a new person? What had this new person done?

“Who is it?” Pidge asked, the most protruding question at her mind. A moment of silence passed by on the other side, and she waited patiently.

“Keith. Shiro’s brother.”

The shock had Pidge freeze. Shiro’s brother. They had found Shiro’s brother. She felt weird. She wanted to be happy for Shiro, but there she sat, stuck in an underground bunker miles away from her own brother’s embrace. The three of them had agreed that once Shiro and Matt’s mission were over, once the cure had been found, they would come for her first. It had been Shiro’s idea.

It felt… Bittersweet. She cared for Shiro, had spoken to him on multiple occasions and she was happy he had found some of his family again. But she had still expected to be the first. She had expected to be with them as they searched for Shiro’s family. Of course things never went as she expected.

She sighed as she accepted this, once again. Shiro had found his brother, while Pidge had to wait even longer to see hers again. She heard Matt speak, her pause obviously too long for comfort. His voice was soft, and she knew he felt the same as her.

“We’re coming for you, Katie.”

“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chap should be out within the week, im working and stuff s o y e a h
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Scream at me @ my tumblr: sushisocks.tumblr.com


	10. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang joins up with some familiar faces!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Reese and Mogi for betaing!!!
> 
> And the klkl server for being A++ people!
> 
> Here's chap 10 yall!

The weeks they spent in the hospital were somewhat of a blessing. It allowed Coran and Hunk time to mourn, allowed Hunk to accept the fate of his wife. Not only that, but the long days gave the five time to get closer to each other. Keith and Hunk quickly hit it off, spending most of the days together. Shiro had walked into the cafeteria one day to hear Keith laugh as Hunk told some grandiose story about the kids from his town. Shiro had stood silently and watched the two as they goofed around, neither noticing the older man at the entrance of the room.

When Hunk’s voice started to quiver and Keith’s laugh died down, Shiro found it best to leave them, just as silently as he had found them. He wanted to help Hunk and speak with him, but Shiro had walked in on a private moment between Keith and Hunk. He knew enough to respect that.

Coran and Matt also got along well, which really was no surprise to Shiro. Matt had always loved reading, and in turn, learning. Coran was a very knowledgeable, older man who liked to share his stories. He told them that he had always had a passion for history, and Shiro would spend many evenings listening to Coran and Matt discuss worldly events from hundreds of years prior.

It took two weeks of waiting for the wave of zombies washing through town to even remotely thin out. Another week before Shiro dared himself out of the building, when food was running low. Matt had been the one most reluctant to let him go, as none of them were sure if Shiro was guaranteed a free pass from all the undead out there. Shiro managed to convince the shorter brunet with a few soothing words and a reminder that if he didn’t go, they would run out of food quickly, and Matt reluctantly agreed. So, They cleared up one of the blockades for him, closing the door off with only a table as he left.

He came back unharmed, with a shopping cart from the closest supermarket, filled with any edible food he had been able to find. One day, they had looked over the edge of the roof to see a completely wrecked car in the middle of the streets. It was the one which had brought them so far, no longer in a drivable condition. Shiro promised to find a new car so they could move on as soon as they were able to. Hunk spent his days cooking, Keith kept him company or spent his time on the roof, looking over the town. Coran checked up on Shiro regularly, and Matt busied himself with fussing over Shiro’s health and talking to Pidge.

Shiro healed, albeit not as quickly as Coran had thought, but quicker than what would have been normal. Soon enough, all that was left of the bites were big, round, scars that looked slightly lighter than the rest of his skin. Matt pressed his lips against Shiro’s scars every night, assuring him that he was still the same. He was still the same despite the cure residing in his veins, despite his scars and extreme healing, despite the zombies ignoring him as he walked through the streets. Shiro thanked Matt by holding him close as they fell asleep, running a hand through his hair and promising him they’d find Pidge as they had found Keith.

Shiro was lucky; he could find peace in Matt during times of waiting like these weeks, as could Matt in Shiro. Coran, meanwhile, lost himself in old medical journals he found in dusty rooms, and Hunk sorted through their supplies multiple times a day. Keith, however, got impatient. Once Shiro started wandering the streets daily, Keith wanted to follow. The building was beginning to feel claustrophobic to the younger man, who was desperate to feel useful. Shiro denied Keith from accompanying him, not willing to risk his brother’s life while the streets were still filled with the undead.

Keith accepted this, though it didn’t stop him from anxiously pacing through the hospital each time Shiro left the building. This was half because he could barely stand staying within the walls of the hospital, and half because he was worried one of the zombies would suddenly realize that Shiro was edible after all, resulting in his brother not returning to them.

It took another week for Shiro to find a fitting, functional car; a black SUV in the outskirts of the town. One of the windows were broken, but it was still better than nothing. He used one of the gas tanks from the wrecked car to fill it up, and drove it back to the hospital. Excited by the prospect of finally leaving the hospital, the group prepared to do just so. 

They waited another three days, most of the wave having passed through at this point, leaving only a few stragglers left, before deconstructing the barricades at the main entrance. They quickly killed off the zombies in the street before filling the back of the van with what was left of their supplies, and then they were off.

The van was bigger than the car they had used earlier, all of them having plenty of space to sit with two seats left empty. Hunk placed himself behind the wheel, with Keith riding shotgun. Coran placed himself in one of the middle seats, filling the car with chatter while Matt and Shiro sat in the backer seats. Matt actually partook in said chatter, clearly enjoying Coran’s company, with Hunk pitching in every now and then from behind the wheel with his own thoughts and questions. Shiro enjoyed listening to them, one arm resting around Matt’s shoulders as he watched the brunet speak with a smile.

The hours flew by as they drove, and soon enough they grew restless. Even the hospital had given each of them more space than this, as the van gave them little privacy. They had just passed the state border when Keith spoke of a mall that had seemed vacant the last time he passed it, and they all collectively agreed to stop there to stretch their legs.

It took fifteen minutes for them to see the abandoned mall. It was bigger than Shiro suspected, yet not so big that it felt overwhelming. The area was vacant, a few rusty cars left at the parking lot. They stopped car with little regard to any former parking rules that might have ruled the parking lot. Shiro eyed the mall towering over them as the others gathered on one side of the car, stretching and shaking their legs. It only took a minute for them to agree on splitting up to search the area. If they were lucky they’d find more supplies, maybe even decide to stay the night.

Matt and Shiro went to check out the mall itself, silently entering through the broken glass doors as Hunk and Keith decided to check out the parking lot, which seemed to stretch around the mall. Coran opted to stay by the car to make sure no scavengers would steal their stuff while they were out stealing other people’s stuff.

The mall was spacious, the ceiling was made of glass windows, many of which were broken. The sun, which stood high in the sky, shone down and lit up the mall, giving it a nicer atmosphere than it probably would have had otherwise. Broken glass was spread across the floor, culminating close to the shops which had not been stepped in by any of the living in years. Matt and Shiro passed many unhinged doors and trashed store displays as they made their way further into the mall, a soft draft of wind pulling and pushing strands of grass, dust, and old paper by their feet.

There were three levels, the two upper floors shaped so there were a huge oval hole in each of them, giving the customers from years ago access to look both up at the glass ceiling, as well as down to the first floor. Matt made a comment about how it looked bigger on the inside than it did the outside, and Shiro hummed with agreement as they kept their guns at the ready, climbing up the unmoving escalators to the second floor.

Except for the sound of their feet, the building was silent. Shiro could hear his companion breathe as they followed the old rusty railing which was meant to keep unruly kids from falling over the edge and to the floor below. Parts of it had broken off and had fallen down to the first floor. Shiro stopped by one of the gaps in the railing, peering over the edge as Matt continued a few steps onwards. He saw the upper part of a rotten, bloody, body using its gangly arms to drag itself along the floor, Shiro barely able to make out its groans.

As he stood there, transfixed on this struggling zombie, the sound of feet could barely be heard, quickly moving up to Shiro from behind him. Neither Matt or Shiro noticed before it was too late, a strong kick to the back of his knees making Shiro buckle over as a forearm wrapped itself around his neck, pulling Shiro back into a chokehold as a voice rang out from behind him.

“Don’t move or else—“ The person behind him froze mid-sentence, but she had spoken enough for jolt of familiarity to shoot through Shiro as he recognized the voice of the person speaking, the person currently holding him captive. A look at Matt’s surprised expression, which quickly turned from shock to disbelief, only confirmed his suspicions as the female behind him spoke up.

“Matt?” A short pause where Matt nodded wordlessly, a sly smirk playing at his lips.

“That means…”

Shiro felt the grip around his neck loosen, falling to the ground shortly thereafter, heaving for air only for a moment before quickly turning to meet his attacker.

A tall, proud figure stood over him, her hands placed at her hips with a surprised expression. Her former waist-length silver hair now only reached just above her shoulders, which were burdened with a backpack and what seemed to be a polearm fastened to it. She leant down to offer him her hand as he muttered her name.

“Allura,”

Meanwhile, Hunk and Keith had rounded the corner of the mall, exiting Coran’s field of vision as they explored the parking lot. Their suspicions were confirmed as they saw more cars on a wider field, the parking lot taking up more space behind the mall than it had done in front. 

The place stunk of old car gas and rotting bodies, two smells that did not go well together, as Hunk audibly noted. Lined up in a grid were old, rusty cars, with shattered windows and flat tires. Keith could see grass breaking through the paved ground, as well as weeds growing from the old car-seats, flowers poking their heads out from wherever possible. Keith shivered at the thought that these plants were possibly the only living things this parking lot had seen in years.

Shaking the uneasiness off his back, Keith motioned for Hunk to move down between two of the car-rows, deciding to split up and move down the lane parallel to Hunk. The bigger man seemed nervous, mentioning how splitting up usually was the surefire way of dying in horror movies. Keith only sighed, reminding his friend that they were not in a horror movie and that splitting up would help them cover more ground. Besides, they could still see each other over the car roofs.

Hunk made a reluctant sound, but started walking down the path Keith had pointed out. He kept Keith within his eyesight as they carefully moved down the parking lot and away from the mall. Every now and then they’d stop and check some of the cars out, in search of supplies for the rest of the ride. At some point Hunk picked up a long cylindrical pipe, swinging it around a few times as he felt its weight. He shrugged at Keith as the other raised an eyebrow at him, explaining how it might be useful to bash some undead heads in.

Due to Keith’s somewhat faster pace, he ended up a few meters ahead of Hunk. Somewhat drained, the taller man stopped to watch Keith as he quickly moved down the parking lot, checking every window. Hunk sighed, he had just told the other that splitting up was a bad idea, yet there Keith ran ahead, only one task on his mind. As Hunk opened his mouth to call out to the other, he heard a groan behind his back. He yelped as he quickly turned on his heel to meet the face making the noise, taking a step back.

A rotting body had climbed out of a car with no doors to block its path, a car Hunk had forgot to check as he had watched Keith. Hunk winced as the smell of its rotting flesh hit him, the sight of maggots crawling over its skin making him feel sick to his stomach. A wave of nausea hit him as he saw how the maggots seemed to gather in one of the zombies eye sockets, the eye itself missing. Hunk froze, hearing Keith’s voice yelling in the distance, somewhat transfixed on the maggots crawling around in the rotting flesh.

He held his breath as his grip tightened around the pipe in his hand, every fiber in his body yelling at him to move, to get away, or to whack the walking maggot-house right in it’s head. He knew what to do, he had fought zombies countless of times before. Yet the only thing he could do was think of his wife and what she probably looked like by that point. The thought of Shay with rotting, maggot-infested skin made him unable to move. Just long enough for the zombie to attack.

Just as the zombie opened its jaw, just as it let out a fear-inducing noise, just as Hunk’s life started to flash before his eyes, a gunshot rang through the parking lot. The rotting body fell to the ground as half its head had been blown off. Hunk stared barely for a second before gasping for air, realizing he had been holding his breath since the zombie made it’s appearance. He quickly turned around to look at Keith a few meters away, who seemed just as baffled as Hunk felt.

Keith couldn’t have done it, despite the gun at the ready in his hands. There was no chance that Keith had been able to hit the zombie, as Hunk had stood right in the way of Keith’s aim. Hunk quickly put this together and turned back to the zombie, now dead. It had fallen parallel to him, and Hunk could see the entry wound of the bullet that had killed it. Then his eyebrows shot up in realization, Hunk turning his head towards the mall.

Standing on top of the mall, right at the edge of the roof, stood a lanky figure with his legs spread wide and hands thrown up in pride. Each hand formed the sign both Hunk and Keith recognized as the peace sign. Keith could see the figure take a comically deep breath before opening his mouth to shout.

“NO SCOPE BITCHES!”

Keith’s eyebrows shot up as his jaw dropped, staring up at the guy whose voice filled the silent parking lot. He barely had the time to wonder  _ who _ this guy was before Hunk shook his head and shouted.

“Lance? Lance! Lance, is that you?”

As Keith’s gaze moved to his bigger friend a few meters ahead of him, said big friend started running down the parking lot towards the mall. The guy on the roof, Lance, bowed. It took Keith a second to realize he bowed to pick up his rifle, not because he was expecting applause. He watched Lance pick up his things and skip his way over to the fire escape that ran all the way from the roof to the ground. Lance hurried down the stairs, taking two steps at the time. Within seconds, the man was at the ground only to be picked up and brought into one of Hunk’s rib-crushing hugs. Keith figured this was about the time for him to make his way back to the mall to group up with his friend and meet this Lance, who Hunk seemed to know already.

Keith sauntered down his lane as he watched Hunk throw Lance up in the air only to catch him and hug him again. He could hear the big man’s hearty laugh from far away, his grin infectious. By the time Keith was within ears range, Hunk had put Lance back down on his feet, the two chattering loudly with huge grins plastered across their faces. Keith hovered for a bit as he watched them, feeling a bit awkward at the thought of approaching them. Sure, he and Hunk had become good friends during their weeks locked up in the hospital, but this was obviously someone Hunk had known for a long time.

Keith didn’t stand there for long before Hunk noticed him, turning with a grin and waving him closer.

“Oh! Lance, this is Keith, one of the people on my group. Keith, this is Lance. He’s a friend from high school, though he moved at the beginning of senior year.”

This seemed to earn a laugh from Lance. “Oh man, I remember how much you cried the day before we left.”

“Hey, we were besties! You were leaving our senior year, of course I was sad.” Hunk huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh please, you had Shay, your lovely girlfriend. Can’t believe you guys held out through all of high school. How is she by the way? You two still together?”

“Yeah actually, we got married.” Hunk lifted his hand to show off the plain silver ring snug on his finger. Lance lit up like lights on a Christmas tree, and just as he seemed ready to holler his joy for the two to the skies, Hunk’s smile fell, immediately shutting the shorter man up. “But, well… She didn’t…”

Realization hit Lance as Hunk bit his lip quivering lip, unable to finish his sentence. Lance was quick to wrap his arms around Hunk, hugging him as he mumbled his condolences. Feeling even more awkward, Keith looked away from the two. He had never met Shay, the only things he knew about her was the things Hunk had told him. She really sounded like an amazing person.

Soon enough, the two old friends pulled apart, Lance cleaning his throat a bit as he looked at the two others.

“I guess it’s about time for me to contact my, err, partner.”

Hunk gasped loudly at this, which in turn made Keith quirk a brow.

“Partner? Lance, don’t tell me –“

“No, no, not like that. Not for the lack of trying, Allura is just resistant to pick-up lines, I guess. We’re just, you know, working together, or something.”

Hunk nodded slowly as Lance brought a hand up to his ear pushing against a little metallic earpiece that Keith hadn’t noticed before now. It reminded him of the little Bluetooth device his father had that hung onto the ear.

“Hey, Allura? We have.. guests?” Lance looked over at the other two with a confused look and shrugged a bit, obviously not too concerned with what to refer them as. The two stared back at him as Lance looked up to the sky, intently listening to the voice in his ear.

“Wait, what? You too?” He suddenly exclaimed, snapping his head to look at Hunk and Keith, although it was obvious it wasn’t them he was talking to. He started nodding to whatever this ‘Allura’ was saying on the other end of the line, before realizing that she couldn’t see him nodding, affirmative noises coming from him instead. The wide arrange of expressions and emotions the sniper showed in a matter of seconds surprised Keith. He hadn’t seen someone use their whole body so actively while communicating with others.

Keith must have been staring because Lance froze for a moment, looking curiously at the raven-haired man as the two pair of eyes met. Lance curiosity was quickly replaced by a cocky smirk and a wink, which in turn made Keith scowl. The wordless interaction between them was cut short as the communication device in Lance’s ear drew his attention away from Keith.

“Understood,” was the last thing Lance said before turning back to Hunk and Keith with a grin.“Well, seems like we’ll have to head back to the entrance of the mall. Allura and your friends will meet us there.”

“‘Our friends’?” Keith crossed his arms over his chest as he eyed Lance suspiciously.

“Yeah, apparently your friends met my friend inside the mall. C’mon, let’s go.” Lance answered with ease as he started making his way alongside the malls outer wall. The two had hurried after him, following him around the corner.

As they made their way towards the mall’s main entrance, they passed the van they had arrived in, sticking somewhat out among the rustier cars. Hunk could see Coran sitting on top of the roof of the black van, promptly shouting and waving his arms around to gain the older man’s attention. Lance slowed down, eyeing the ginger-haired man who jumped down from the van.

“Another one of yours?” He asked Keith who was also watching Coran as he jogged across the parking lot. Keith nodded slowly as he turned to face Lance. The taller man seemed to be of latin-american descent, a grin huge on his face as he watched Hunk grab Coran and hug him, lifting the older man off his feet. Coran introduced himself to Lance as they neared the entrance to the mall, where three figures stood waiting.

“Lance!” A female voice rang out, Lance waving enthusiastically as he ran up to meet with the person Keith assumed to be Allura.

“Hey, beautiful. Here’s the guests I mentioned. Seems like you found some too?” He smiled as he winked at her, which in turn made Allura roll her eyes. Keith resisted the urge to do the same, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yes, Lance, this is Matt and Shiro. I’ve told you about them, remember? From the facility I worked at before the crash.”

“Ooh, yeah. Nice to meet you, name’s Lance.” The brunet spoke as he held his hand out for them to shake. First Shiro, then Matt. They both smiled politely at him.

“Well, Allura, here you have Keith, Hunk, and Coran. I’m guessing the five of you are togeth—“ Lance was interrupted by Allura slamming her hand over his mouth as she stared intently at Coran, who was grinning like a fool.

“Coran? It can’t be..” She trailed off, disbelief dripping from her voice as Coran opened his arms.

“Allura, it has been too long.”

The woman in question took four long steps before wrapping her hands around the older man’s torso, who returned her hug with a huge smile.

“I can’t believe you’re alive!” Allura exclaimed, face hidden in Coran’s shoulder. Lance could tell she was smiling. He let out a low whistling sound as he watched the two.

“Small world, huh?” He said, only loud enough for Keith and Hunk to hear. Hunk nodded, his smile wide as he watched the reunion.

“How are you? How is your father?” Coran asked as he slowly pulled away from Allura, looking down at the younger woman. Allura’s smile fell at the mention of Alfor.

“Yeah, I was meaning to ask that too Allura. When you left the facility in that chopper, I made sure your father was with you. What happened?” Matt spoke up from behind them, standing next to Shiro where they had been watching the scene unfold.

Allura took a step away from Coran, turning to face the others.

“I guess we all have a lot of catching up to do. However, the sun is setting and I doubt any of us would like to meet a zombie out here. How about you guys spend the night here and we can talk? Me and Lance are camped out in the security room, it is rather spacious. It seems we all have a lot of unanswered questions.” She looked over at Lance, seeking what Shiro assumed to be some sort of confirmation, which Lance gave with a nod after half a second of thinking.

The others turned to Shiro however, waiting for his verdict. He met Matt’s warm, though expectant, gaze, before turning to Allura with a smile. He had no reason to distrust her, they had known eachother for a long time now.

“Sure, that sounds like a good idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp! The gang is finally all in one place! Maybe the plot can begin now? Man, who knows, idk what Im doing!!
> 
> Thanks for reading and see yall next chapter!
> 
> My tumblr: sushisocks.tumblr.com


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